Freedom
by jadedcutie494
Summary: Alec finds the cure, Max gets freedom... but from what? another MaxAlec fic, please read! MA, OC, AU
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel...unfortunately

Summary: Alec finds the cure, and Max gets freedom... but from what? M/A, OC, AU from LATR

Chapter 1: Prologue

Max stood in TC's central headquarters, looking at Sam. It was strange to think that there was a whole other person walking around with her face, her body. She knew that they all had twins, Alec and Ben were living proof, but it had never really clicked that that meant there was another one of her too. Maybe she had never wanted to think that there was someone else walking around with her face, and body, and everything. She still had trouble some days, accepting that Alec was Ben's twin. As she looked behind her, to Joshua, she saw Alec approaching. For some unknown reason, she felt better knowing that he was back in TC.

'Score anything?' she asked, walking over to him.

'Jacked an SUV from some, uh, gangster guys outside a strip club.' He looked up as he handed her the keys, and gave her his trademark smirk. She felt her stomach give a tiny lurch, but pushed it aside. She gave him a smile in return.

'Thanks'

'It's gonna be a long ride to Canada. She's got some explaining to do.' Alec said, as they looked over to Sam, who sat on an old couch, talking to her son. Alec thought to himself, even though she was a completely different person to Max, he could still totally see the family resemblance – namely, the bitchiness. Although he had to admit, it suited them both very well.

Max interrupted his thoughts, saying 'I appreciate this.'

He looked back at her, and smiled. 'Well, anything for a friend…or a clone of a friend.' And with that he walked over to where Joshua and Luke were standing, while Max turned to go over to Sam. _A clone of a friend? Is that how he sees them? As clones of us? But he's 49_4_, and Ben was 49_3_ so does he think that he's Ben's clone? What do I care anyway?_

'You're all set' Max said, handing over the car keys to Sam, who just looked at her.

'If you're expecting a thankyou, forget about it. None of this would have happened if it wasn't for you.' Was the only response Max got. But she understood. She was starting to understand more, what it had been like for everyone after they had escaped, especially their twins. She remembered when the night that she had told Alec about Ben, how guilty she had felt and how he had simply held her, let her cry. Now she thought about how hard it must have been for him, 6 months in Psy-ops, checking to see if he was going to start killing people at random. Yet he had never said anything, not since that first time in her cell. So she just looked at Sam and said 'You're right.' Just at that moment, Alec, who couldn't help but overhear, walked by on his way out and said 'You know, if Manticore hadn't gone down, you wouldn't even be with them right now. And you know who took it down' and with that he gave a slight glance at Max, before walking out.

'Not bad.' Sam said as she watched Alec walk outside. With a quick look at her husband and son, she turned and followed him out. 'Hey, Alec'

'Uh, Max? No, Sam. What's up?' He said as he stopped on his way to where his bike was parked next to Max's now damaged Ninja.

'I just… Well, I guess you've told Max some of what happened to us back at Manticore, after they left. 'Cause when I was talking about it, she wasn't as surprised as I thought she would be.'

'Yeah, it came up once or twice. So? I know we blamed them for everything back at Manticore, but it wasn't their fault, you know? They left. Maybe part of us was just jealous, 'cause they did what we never could. I don't know, and honestly, I don't really care anymore.' Alec replied, in a rare moment of honesty. But as soon as he was done he gave her a typical Alec smirk.

'I just don't understand how you can't care. It just doesn't make sense! You know better then anyone else. You got the worst of it, yet you sit there defending her.' Sam said this last bit with incredulity in her voice. Alec just looked at, and shook his head.

'You just don't know her, Sam. You don't know what she's done. You know how many times she's saved my ass? And half the time, I never even say thank you. But she still keeps doing it. All for the sake of family – and with everything I've done to screw up her life, I still don't understand how I manage to fall anywhere _near_ that category.' He looked up at the sky, as if looking for an answer and then he looked back down and stared Sam straight in the eye. 'I know you wanna hate her, but take my advice. Life's a whole lot simpler when you just let it go and realise it was never their fault. Now that that's in the open, I'm gonna go back inside, cause I also know that I wasn't made for these kinds of heart to hearts, as touching as this has been. Good luck with your family' And with a grin, he walked back inside.

Max walked out of the head quarters of TC looking for Alec and she saw him talking to Sam and started towards them, but stayed hidden in the shadows when she realised what they were talking about.

'It just doesn't make sense! You know better then anyone else. You got the worst of it, yet you sit there defending her.' She heard Sam say, her voice full of disbelief. It made her remember a time a few months earlier when she had fully come to realise what life at Manticore had really been like after they left. She remembered Alec, sitting alone at the bar, completely quiet and so out of character.

'_I would, see, but you wouldn't understand. You can't understand; you weren't there. You ran. You and your little rugrat brothers and sisters. You think life was rough when we were ten? A little schooling, a little brainwashing, some manoeuvres outside? You think that was tough?' he had asked her_

'_Sucked pretty hard' was how she had replied, not understanding._

'_Take it from me. Later on, it got a whole lot worse. But you did what you had to do. Then you tried to forget. And when you couldn't forget, they had ways of making you not care.' He had said, with such bitterness in his voice, and pain, that Max almost shuddered just imagining what they had done to him._

Remembering what he had been through, she waited to see how he would reply. She heard him say 'You just don't know her, Sam. You don't know what she's done. You know how many times she's saved my ass? And half the time, I never even say thank you. But she still keeps doing it. All for the sake of family – and with everything I've done to screw up her life, I still don't understand how I manage to fall anywhere _near_ that category.' He paused briefly, and she too wondered when he had become such an important part of her life. But she didn't have time to consider this any further because he continued 'I know you wanna hate her, but take my advice. Life's a whole lot simpler when you just let it go and realise it was never their fault. Now that that's out in the open, I'm gonna go back inside, cause I also know that I wasn't made for these kinds of heart to hearts, as touching as this has been. Good luck with your family.'

She laughed softly at this. It was such a typical Alec manoeuvre, to brush off anything remotely honest, or human, with a joke. She saw Alec move back towards the building, and she left the shadows and walked over to Sam.

'Hey, I think your little boy's looking for you. And I think your husband is just about ready to get out of here. Even without the others, I think Mole would be enough to scare any ordinary' she laughed as she said this, thinking almost fondly of the giant lizard man.

'Yeah, well we should probably get going. So, sorry about the whole 'trying to kill you thing'. No hard feelings?' Sam asked her, half joking half serious.

'I was about to ask you the same. Sorry. We didn't know. Honestly, if we had, we would've come back for you.' Max looked at Sam honestly, not wanting to let her leave until she'd settled this.

'Yeah, well, I guess sometimes you just gotta move on, put things behind you. Anyway, thanks. Look after yourself.' And with that Sam walked towards the building, and her family. Almost as an afterthought, she turned back to Max and said 'Oh, and I'd keep 49 – Alec around if I were you. He's pretty stuck on you, and he's a good guy. Better then most.' With this as a parting, Sam turned and walked out of Max's life and into her new one with her family.


	2. Chapter 2: Transgenic Trouble

Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel… if only

A/N: I realised I didn't do one in the first chapter, but yeah, this is just another MA fic, hope you guys like it. It's my first one, so don't sue me if it's not too good.

Chapter 2: Transgenic Trouble

Max came to a stop outside Jam Pony, and after parking her baby against the wall, walked inside to find Alec. She wanted to talk to him about getting some supplies for TC the next night. She saw him standing next to the lockers, talking to Biggs, an X5 that had been in Alec's unit back in the good old days. She could hear them talking, and realised that they were discussing their first assignment together. Just as she reached them, they said in unison 'Lola'. She looked up at Alec and said 'Who's Lola?' but he just grinned at Biggs, and said 'No one.' _Yeah, no one, like I'm gonna fall for that. Just another of his many conquests knowing Alec. Or Biggs', if he's anything like Alec._

'Yeah, well anyway, can I talk to you? In private?' She added, looking up at him and then turned to walk into the corner. He looked at Biggs, who had a questioning look on his face, shrugged and followed.

'What's up Maxie?' he asked, which earned him a glare.

'I've told you, don't call me that. Anyway, do you have plans tomorrow night? Dix gave me a list of stuff they need, and I figured I'd do it tomorrow. Can you come?' She looked up him, and was suddenly struck by how beautiful his eyes were. _Wait, beautiful? God, do I need sleep or something? It's only been a couple of days._ She shook her head slightly, as if to clear it. 'Well?' she demanded, looking up at him.

'Sure, where are we getting the stuff…' he was interrupted by his cell ringing. 'Hang on. Alec' He answered.

'_Hey, it's Luke. We got trouble, sector 5. White's already on his way.'_ Luke's worried voice came through the phone.

'On it' was all Alec said before he hung up the phone, and Max saw the concern covering his face.

'What's up?' Max asked, starting to get worried.

'A transgenic was spotted in Sector 5 a few minutes ago; Luke said White's men are already on their way.' He answered, already heading back out towards the main room, where Biggs was still standing next to their packs. He shot Alec a questioning look as he strode back into the room, picking his bag up as he went.

'We gotta get down there before White does. Let's go. Bring Biggs; let's see what he's made of.' She said as the walked back through the lockers behind him. Biggs, being an X5, heard her despite the fact that she was whispering.

'Bring me where?' He asked Alec as he caught up to him, a look of questioning covering his face.

'Got a little, uh, trouble in Sector 5, gotta go sort it out.' Alec answered as he walked past, and Biggs understood immediately and after picking up his back pack, he followed Max and Alec to the entrance of Jam Pony. All three had their motorbikes there, which was lucky as they it would have taken twice as long on a regular bike, and they all got on and headed off in the direction of Sector 5.

They jumped on their bikes, put them into gear in unison and sped off. They pulled up to the Sector 5 checkpoint in less then five minutes and they pulled out their Jam Pony passes.

'Jam Pony messengers' Max said to the sector cop.

'We got a pick up in Sector 5, Harbor Lights Hospital.' Alec added, and with a quick look at their passes, the guard waved them through. It took them a minute to locate the transgenic, and they saw the cops closing in on him.

'Ready?' Max asked them.

'I'm always ready' Alec answered with a smirk.

'Funny, that's what Lola said' Biggs noted, which caused him and Alec to laugh. They received a groan from Max, and Alec earned a smack up the back of his head.

'Come on, let's do this' Max said, and they all looked forward. Alec rode off first, picking up a metal pole as he went. He used this to knock out two of the cops he passed and Biggs followed suit. While they took care of the cops, Max drove forward to the Transgenic.

'Get on!' she yelled, and he jumped on behind her. Just then a black car pulled up in front of her, and White stepped out. 'Oh shit.' She turned her bike around, heading back to where Alec and Biggs were dealing with the last few cops. As she rode past she yelled at them 'Alec, Biggs, we got company.' Out of the corner of her eye she saw them glance up, and heard Alec's soft 'shit.' Then short started, and Max felt one pass close to her arm. She came to a stop and looked back at White. He and his partner were firing at random, hoping to hit them. She saw Alec duck a bullet as Biggs pulled out a gun of his own. She knew he wouldn't shoot to kill, but then she noticed a few sector cops moving towards their own bikes. 'Biggs' she called out, and when he turned his head to look at her, she nodded her head towards them. He understood, and took aim at their wheels. In three shots he had disabled their bikes and the four transgenics prepared to leave. Just as Biggs was about to drive off, he noticed that White was out of bullets and saw they were about to get in their car to follow, so he took aim again and shot out the front tires of their car. Then he turned around and followed Alec and Max back to TC

Later that day, Biggs was standing in a market buying lunch, when he noticed that he was being surrounded. He started to walk away, then broke into a run and went into an abandoned building. This was not good. He took a long, roundabout way back to his bike, and as he was walking down the street towards it, his phone rang.

'Yeah?' he answered.

'Hey, it's me. Look, you gotta get back here now' Alec said through the phone. But before he could answer, he saw someone holding a metal pipe coming up behind him.

'Hey, wanna contribute to the trannie-free city?' the man asked. Biggs shot him a look and said 'Not today, sorry.' And he was about to walk away when he saw the man raise the pipe to hit him. He moved out of the way, and moved behind the man, knocking him unconscious before he noticed the guy's friends heading his way.

'Alec, I'll be right there.' As he said this, he saw the T.V. screen with his picture on it, along with a warning informing the public that he was a transgenic. _Fantastic, just what I need. Well, this explains a lot, like the group of men in trench coats. I need to move._ 'Shit' he said into the phone.

'I take it you've seen the news?' Alec asked, trying to sound like his usual self, despite his concern.

'Yeah, I gotta go. I'll be there soon. But this is so not good.' And he hung up, threw his bike into gear and sped off towards Terminal City.

'The gates to TC opened as the guards recognised Biggs. He rolled through, giving them a nod, and headed to head quarters.

When he got there, everyone was standing still, no one talking. He shot a questioning look to Mole, who simply indicated a room off to the side that was, for lack of a better name, Max's office. This, and the noticeable absence of Max and Alec, brought Biggs to the conclusion that the two of them were having an argument. He moved towards the door, and could hear them as clearly as if they had been standing next to him. Ah, the beauty of having heightened senses.

'What do you mean, you haven't got it yet? You said you'd have it by TODAY AT THE LATEST!' Max was practically screaming at him.

'I know Max, what can I say? My guy was late. I'm gonna pick it up tomorrow. Relax, will ya?' Alec replied, and then mentally kicked himself because he knew that last bit was gonna earn him a smack up the head or another verbal thrashing. Either way, he was prepared.

'Relax? Did you just tell me to relax? Are you KIDDING ME? How can I relax Alec? We've got new trangenics arriving every day, ordinaries gathering by the hundreds outside, White and his familiars and now this thing with Biggs. How are we gonna explain THAT to Normal, huh? All you had to do was get a supply of Tryptophan in for the X5s. A simple job really. I should've just asked…' but she was cut off by a pissed off Alec.

'Who? Logan? I know how much is going on here, and I know how careful we need to be right now. Geez Max, you act like I'm two. I said I'd get it and I'll get it. As much as you might like to think, not everything that goes wrong is my fault.' Max was so stunned by his outburst that she could only stand there and stare at him as he walked towards the door. He reached for the door handle, and before he turned it, he turned his head and said as an after thought 'Oh, and don't worry about Normal. I'll deal with it. Unless you don't think I can handle it' the last bit was coated in sarcasm.

She opened her mouth to reply, but he was gone through the door. He was moving so fast he barely noticed Biggs standing there. 'Hey, you made it back. Run into any more trouble? Well, I guess you're gonna be stuck here in TC for a while. Haha. Don't worry, I'm sure you and Mole will get along just fine.'

Mole, who like everyone else in the room, had been listening the entire time, looked over at this last bit and glared. 'Hey, I take offence to that'

Alec grinned at him. 'What? Come on, you know you're not the most easy going guy.' This got everyone laughing. But the room fell silent again as Max's voice cut through saying 'Biggs. How did they make you as a transgenic?'

He looked over at her and shrugged. 'No idea'

'Well then, we'll need to get an idea. Luke, Dix, see if you can hack into the FBI's database, figure it out. And soon'

A/N: well, there's chapter 2!! Hope you liked it, sorry for not killing Biggs, I just couldn't do it. I'll try to update at least once a week. I've written the whole thing, I'm in the process of typing it up and fixing it up – I have a tendency to leave words out when I'm in a rush, or even stop mid-word, as my friend pointed out to me. Please review!!


	3. Chapter 3: Talks with Joshua

Disclaimer: I don't own anything… if only

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! So, here's the next chapter. It's a bit short, sorry. But the next ones will be longer. The next chapter is almost ready to go, so it should be up soon, I hope. Um, this chapter and the next one have nothing to do with any episodes from the show, but chapter 5 will, but then it will continue after the show, so just hang in there for those of you who don't like re-written bits of the show. Anyway, here it is!

Chapter 3: Talks with Joshua

As Max drove through TC towards HQ, her thoughts drifted to Alec. The only conversation they'd had since he'd stormed out of her 'office' yesterday had been a brief one this morning to check that they were still on for the raid at Harbor Lights that night. _Yeah, brief cause Alec walked off the second he'd said yes. Didn't even let me get a breath in to continue talking. Typical, always running from his problems_ Max thought to herself, but the little voice in the back of her mind couldn't help adding _yeah, sounds like someone else I know._ The more denial type part of brain shot back; _shut up_, before she thought _great, now I'm mentally yelling at myself. Oh this is fantastic! I'm losing my mind, and it's all Alec's fault, why'd he have to get so god damn angry?_ Thinking back over their conversations from the last few days, she remembered about how angry he'd been when she'd told him what she had said to Logan, about them being a couple. It had surprised her how much it had upset him, but she'd been even more surprised when he'd turned up at Crash and told her he had not, in fact, told Logan the truth. She remembered how relieved she'd been at hearing that.

But now, thinking back, had she been more relieved that Logan still thought they were dating or that she got to continue pretending that she was Alec's girl? _Wait, what? Where the hell did that come from? I must have hit my head and forgotten about it. Shake it off, shake it off._ And why had he been so angry yesterday? She was always saying that kind of thing to him, but it never got to him like that before. He's seemed fine, actually, until she'd almost mentioned…Logan. But why would that upset him. She'd only meant that Logan's guys were usually more reliable then the ones Alec seemed to deal with. It wasn't like it was a personal attack against Alec specifically. She shrugged to herself as she stopped her bike. He sure was one strange man.

'Hey medium fella. You alright?' Joshua came up behind Alec, determined to figure out why Alec had been so mad yesterday and so quiet today. It wasn't like him – he was always so talkative, or as Max said, too talkative. He'd asked Biggs earlier, but he'd had 'no clue' as he had said. It had taken Joshua a while to figure that one out when he'd first heard Alec say it a while ago, but now he knew it meant that you didn't know the answer. He had started using it, as he did with a lot of the phrases he heard Alec and Max use, like his favourite one 'gotta blaze'. But he'd come here to talk to Alec so he could 'get a clue' and he wasn't leaving without one. He had spent the better part of the afternoon thinking about how to start this conversation with Alec, and trying to decide whether he should try and be subtle or go 'straight for the kill', another of the phrases he had picked up, although this one was from Mole. He had come to the decision that subtlety was not the best option for two reasons; one, Alec was smart enough to pick up on things like that, he had seen Max trying to get things out of him, and two, Joshua wasn't good with the whole subtle thing. So he asked the question straight out, determined not to leave until he got an answer.

'Yeah Josh, you know me. I'm always alright' Alec grinned, using his almost trade-mark phrase, and tried to get past the large dog-man, but had no such luck. He wasn't really in a hurry to get anywhere, he just wanted to leave, cause he knew that Joshua was the one person who could get any sort of real honesty out of him, without even trying. _Damn it, he's not gonna let me go, is he? Just don't look him in the eye, don't look him in the eye._

'No, Alec not fine. Alec yell at Max, now Alec quiet. Too quiet.' Joshua said this simply, as was his nature. He noticed how Alec was avoiding eye contact, and knew that he was hiding something from him. _Like last time, with the necklace._ Joshua had never found out what was really going on then, but after what had happened with Annie, he thought he knew. Alec had loved someone, and they had died, and he blamed himself. Joshua had never brought up that night with Alec, cause he knew that Alec and Max had talked about it, and if he opened up about it once, he wasn't likely to open up about it any time soon.

'Hey, what can I say? When I'm 'normal' I talk to much, now I'm 'not normal' cause I'm not talking enough. Guess I better keep working on finding that happy medium, huh?' Alec answered easily, ignoring the first part of Joshua's statement. He tried to pass by Joshua again, without success and almost let out a sigh. _Should've known it would be that easy. Now I know why Max doesn't like fighting around Joshua._

'Alec, why did you yell at Max?' Alec looked up, straight as his face. He realised that at this point, the truth would be easier. _Or at least, a small, tiny, miniscule part of the truth, since I myself don't know the whole truth. Damn Max! This is all her fault, somehow._ He looked at Joshua, and mentally he gave a sigh, since he couldn't give an actual one.

'Just blowing of steam. It was a long day, you know, and I was worried about Biggs. It's all good. Hey, I'll even apologise to Max if it'll make you feel better.' He gave Joshua his trademark grin as he said this. Joshua looked at him and was about to say something when he heard Max's voice calling his name.

'Joshua? Hey, big fella, you seen Alec around any…?' She stopped talking when she noticed Alec standing behind him. 'Oh, hey. You ready to do this?' she asked, and he knew that she was referring the Harbor Lights raid, because that was the only thing they had talked about since yesterday, and even that had been very briefly. He still wasn't quite sure as to why he had gotten so made at her the other day, or if he did he was pushing it to the very back corner of his mind.

'Yep, just let me get my jacket.' He said curtly as he stepped around Joshua and Max, glad for the interruption, and headed to the far side of HQ, where Biggs was sitting. Max watched him walk away, and couldn't help but notice how nice his walk was. But thankfully she was quickly brought back to reality when Joshua put his hand on her shoulder. She turned to look at him, and saw that he was studying her.

'Little fella? Max and Alec have a fight?' She just looked at him, thinking it was a statement. _Yeah, we always have fights, why's he bringing this one up?_ Then she realised that Joshua was asking her a question. And it was one that she didn't really have an answer to.

'No, not _really_ a fight, more of a… I don't know Joshua. I mean, I know I was being critical of him yesterday, but I do it all the time and he's never taken it so seriously before. I don't know what I did this time to set him off like that, what I said...' She trailed off, lost in thought. Joshua looked down at her, studying her again. He thought he knew why Alec had reacted the way he had. And why it was bothering Max so much more then she was letting on. But he also knew that making them understand it would be a whole other thing because they were two of the most stubborn people he had ever met, but he had to let them do most of the figuring out by themselves. But at the same time, a little help wouldn't hurt them either. So he said 'Alec wants you to trust him. What you think is important to him.' And then he gave a quick pat on the head and walked away, leaving her to her thoughts. Max stared after him, confusion covering her face. _What? That's insane. Alec doesn't care what anyone thinks about him, especially me, as he's told me and proved to me countless times before… but he has been way less reckless recently, and he's been helping out heaps around here. Maybe he's finally growing up? Alec, growing up? That's never going to happen. He's the mental age of two year old! Mmm, but the packaging is _definitely _not that of a two year old. Oh my god!_ Max rushed over to Alec, grabbed his arm, and headed out the door, eager to get this night over with so she could go talk to Cindy.

Joshua stopped at the edge of HQ and turned to study his two friends, who were walking out the opposite door, not looking at each other, until Biggs called out to the room 'Anyone got a knife that sharp enough to cut the underlying sexual tension between these two?' Two heads snapped around in unison, glaring at him. Then Alec turned to Max, grinning, and said 'Ya know, you do have some issues Max, maybe their simply the result of pent up…' But he never got to finish his sentence, as Max hit his head hard, and shoved him out the door, muttering at him.

Joshua shook his head slightly at the sight of them; he hoped his two friends would work things out. He knew Max loved Logan, but even though he supported her attempts to find the cure, and made his comments about her and Logan 'gettin busy', he could never get rid of the feeling he'd had since the first time he'd seen Max and Alec together, of how _right_ they'd looked, despite the fact that they had practically hated each other. And then when he'd come back into Max's life, and she was constantly complaining about him, and they were always fighting, he'd noticed it again. It had taken him a while to realise what it meant, and he still didn't know what would happen. But he knew one thing for sure: even if Max found the cure, it wouldn't be Max and Logan who were 'gettin busy'.

A/N: ok, hope you liked it! Please, please review! Thanks!


	4. Chapter 4: Harbor lights

Disclaimer: I don't own anything… wish I did though.

A/N: ok, here's the next chapter! I'm gonna try and get the rest up pretty quickly, cause I've finished it, I'm just tweaking it, cause I'm not happy with some bits, plus you know, school and cooking and family always get in the way. Anyway, hope you like it.

Chapter 4: Harbor Lights

On the roof of Harbor Lights Hospital, two dark figures silently ran towards the emergency exit door. The smaller figure stopped at the door, and swiftly pulled out two small earpieces and comms and handed one to Alec, who was busy unscrewing the hinges on the heavy door. He reached out and took it without looking away from the door.

'Almost ready. Wanna help with the door?' he asked as he undid the last of the screws. Max stood up and helped catch the door as it started to fall. They lifted it up and moved it to the side to put it down quietly leaning against the wall. After slipping his earpiece into place, Alec picked up his pack and followed Max through the doorway and down the staircase into the main part of the building.

'Ok' she began, stopping at the base of the stairs, turning to look at him. 'We split up on the third floor. You get the bandages, needles, gloves and a few surgical tools – nothing fancy and not too many of each, we gotta leave some stuff here for the ordinaries. I got the medicines – antibiotics, painkillers and some of the heavier stuff. Get as much as you can carry, but we can't empty them out.'

'Yep. This'll be easy. In and out in 10 minutes, right? Not like last time, cause I'm the one who double checked the shift rosters. As much fun as that was, I don't really feel like being stuck in a cupboard with you for an hour, again.' He grinned at her, but it still hurt. W_hy should I care? I don't want to be stuck in a cupboard with him for an hour either. Although, being stuck in a closet with Alec for an hour does hold some promises. God, what is wrong with me?_

'Shut up. Let's move out. Meet on the roof, 10 minutes, no more. If I have to come back in here to get you I'll kick your ass. And don't break anything' she whispered at his retreating back.

15 minutes later they landed side by side, in unison, at the bottom of the hospital wall, next to their bikes.

'See? Easy, in and out in 10 minutes. And, if you didn't already notice, I didn't break a single thing or set off any alarms, or waste any time. Which means I made it through an entire mission without giving you any reason to kick my ass. Pretty good, huh? Is that a new record?' Alec grinned at her as they hopped on their bikes.

'Yeah yeah, you were great, all bow down to the all mighty Alec. Just drive.' She said. He took off, and as she drove off behind him, she couldn't help but mentally notice just how good he looked in his cat burglar outfit.

An hour later they pulled up outside Alec's apartment building and parked their bikes. They walked up the stairs to his floor, and along the corridor before they went inside in silence, and when they entered his apartment, Alec walked straight towards his bedroom while Max headed for the kitchen.

'Hey, you got any milk in here?' Max asked as she opened the fridge and started to rummage around. _God, there's so much crap in here. Ew, I don't even wanna think about what I just touched,_ she thought as her hand passed over something that felt suspiciously furry. She resisted the urge to shudder. 'Alec, you seriously need to do some house cleaning in here. Seriously, how long has some of this stuff been in here?'

'Sure Max, make yourself right at home, go through my things, eat my food, criticise my housekeeping skills to top it all off.' Alec replied sarcastically. He turned when he felt her glaring at his back and, laughing, he said 'Yeah, it's in the back somewhere, behind the beer probably. You do need to lighten up though, Max. Pour me a glass, will you? I'll be right out.' And he walked into his room, shutting the door behind him. Max poured two glasses of milk and, picking up hers, walked over to the couch and sat down and thought about the last few days.

From inside his room, Alec could hear Max moving around in the kitchen. His thoughts drifted back to the conversation he had had with Joshua. Why had he gotten so mad at Max? _Cause she still doesn't trust you, she still sees you as the screw up. _Was that it? No, she was always saying things like that to him, and, well, yeah it hurt, but he'd never snapped like that before. In fact, he'd been fine until she'd almost mentioned…_Logan_. Something in him had simply snapped. _But cause she was about to mention Logan? Dude, every second sentence that comes out of her mouth is about Logan. No, it was because she'd been about to say that she should have gone to Logan instead of him. She could _trusts_ Logan, he was just a pain in her ass, screw up from Manticore._ After almost a year of knowing her, and he still couldn't figure out what it was that she saw in him. He was so focused on his 'gotta save the world in one day' thing that he barely noticed anyone around him. _But what do I care?_ Despite what Max had said to Logan about them, they weren't actually a couple. Hah! That right there was further proof that Logan didn't belong with Max – he had believed her when she said she was with him, Alec, the guy she was always badmouthing, the constant pain in her ass. Now, there was that strange feeling again…what was it? Hurt? No, it was disappointment. That was it. But what was he disappointed about? But before he could decide, he was interrupted by Max's voice.

'Hey, you ever coming out of there, Pretty Boy? Or are you doing your hair?' she laughed to herself as his door opened and he came out. But she stopped short at the sight of him in just his jeans. She'd never noticed his chest before, really noticed it. But boy was she noticing it now. _Oh god, just look at it. Even by Manticore standards he's gorgeous. Look at those muscles, he really is very strong. Look at his face, it's perfect, his eyes are so gorgeous, I love looking at them. And his lips, so…kissabl_e. She licked her lips without even noticing, but her assessment of him was interrupted when she looked at his face as a whole and saw the confusion that covered it. He was staring at her, one hand paused mid-air with his glass of milk in it, obviously he had been about to have a drink.

'Uh, Max…?' he asked cautiously. This brought her crashing back to reality as she realised _who_ she was thinking about. _This was ALEC, for god's sake. Since when did she think about Alec like that? Oh god, was she in heat again?_ She though her last stay at Manticore had done something about that, it had been over a year since the last time it had happened. _It couldn't just be back, could it? But then, why else am I thinking about Alec's lips? Oh, but look at them. Definitely kissable, they look so soft... No, stop. Oh god, this is not good, I gotta get out of here._ She stood up and almost blurred to the door saying 'I gotta go do…something.'

Alec was still standing there looking at the spot on the couch where Max had been, and it took him a second to realise that she had stood up. By the time he looked up and turned his head, the door was swinging closed behind her. _What just happened here?_ He'd looked up to see Max staring at him with a look in her eyes he'd never seen before. But what had it been? If he didn't know Max better, he would have said it was desire. _But that was insane, right? He was imagining things, I mean, this is MAX! The same person who reminded him at least three times daily that he was a pain in her ass. I just need a drink and some sleep. It's been a long day, no scratch that, it's been a long week._ He decided then that he needed something stronger then milk or the beer in his fridge, so he would go to Crash, have a drink, then come home.

Max entered Crash and looked around, and after spotting OC and Sketchy sitting in the corner, she walked over to them. Cindy was sitting, sipping her beer as she surveyed the room, no doubt checking out the chicks, and Sketchy was… well, he was slumped over the table.

'Hey boo, what's up?' Cindy looked up and when she noted the look on Max's face continued 'Hey Sketchy, it's your turn to buy. And get Max a glass while you're at it.' Sketchy, who was completely drunk by this time, and therefore oblivious too his surroundings, simply nodded and stood up to walk over to the bar. 'Ok boo, spill it. What happened? I thought you had a thing with Alec tonight, didn't ya? So did something go down, he stuff up or something?'

'Not exactly. Everything was fine, pretty much, until… until we got back to his place. Then I started, you know, noticing him.' Max had no idea how to put into words exactly what had happened, and she said the last bit in a very soft voice, so Cindy thought she had misunderstood.

'Noticing him?' Cindy asked, and when Max nodded her head slightly, she continued 'What do you mean you started noticing him? You mean you didn't before, cause he's kinda hard to miss, even for a lesbo like me.' Cindy replied, laughing.

'No, I know that. But tonight I started to notice him, notice him, you know? Like his muscles, and his face, with those eyes and those…oh god, see? What's wrong with me? I just… I gotta get out of here.' Max was about to stand up when Cindy put her arm out to stop her.

'Hey. Hey! You ok? Cause when you start talking like that, 'bout Alec, OC knows something's up.' She stared Max straight in the eyes, trying to figure out what was going on behind them. But as usual, they gave nothing away. _Damn, but those two are so blind._ OC had noticed something between them, from the day Alec had walked into Jampony looking for a job. _I swear, sometimes I think I need to just smack my girl up the head just like she does her boy. As smart as Manticore made them, they got no clue sometimes. _She looked at Max until she gave in again and sat back down.

'I…it's just…I don't know.' Max looked around helplessly. She lowered her voice to a whisper and said 'I think I'm in heat again. Or, I did. But if I was, I should be trying to jump every guy in here, and I'm not. It was only Alec, so it can't be heat, can it? But what is it? Oh god, what's wrong with me? I mean, I'm thinking about _Alec_' She let out a small noise, somewhere between a laugh and a sob, that came out as a sort of high-pitched squeal and she lay her head on the table and covered it with her arms, looking similar to a small child hiding from someone. Cindy wondered who Max was hiding from, Alec or herself.

'I don't know suga. Ya know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say ya got something for Pretty Boy.' Max's head snapped up, and she stared at Cindy like she had suddenly grown an extra head or something.

'He's not my boy. And that's crazy. I mean, he's Alec, and he's, you know… I just, I just gotta get out of here. I think I'm gonna go home. Maybe have a nice cold shower and get some sleep. It has been a few days since I've slept, that's probably the problem. Over tired. I'm gonna go.'

'Ok boo. You sure that's all, then fine. But ya boy just walked in the door and, oh look at that. He sees us and, yep, looks like he wants to talk to you.' Cindy could barely suppress the laughter that was threatening to escape her mouth, at the predicament Max was in. Max just glared at her and walked towards the exit, trying, in vain, to avoid Alec.

He walked through the door of Crash, and looked around as usual, even though he wasn't looking for anyone in particular. Then he spotted OC and Max in the corner, and by the looks of things, Max was getting ready to leave. Good, he needed to talk to her about what had happened earlier at his place. As he walked towards them, he saw them both look at him, then Max looked at Cindy and glared, before walking towards the exit, head down, and he knew she was trying to avoid him. _Fine,_ he thought as he slipped back out the door, _two can play at that game Maxie._

He was sitting on his bike, which he had moved next to her Ninja, and appeared to be waiting for someone. Then she realised that he was waiting for her. _Shit! No, no, no! Not now! Just act casual, and hopefully he won't mention earlier. Oh, who am I kidding, of course he'll mention, he's Alec, he never lets anything go until he gets the last laugh._

'Hey Alec. I'm just leaving. Didn't know you were coming tonight. Well, see you tomorrow at work.' She put her keys into her bike and was about to get on when Alec reached over casually and pulled her keys right back out again.

'Hey, what do you think you're doing?' she demanded, but he merely sat there for a minute, playing with her keys, seemingly fascinated with them, while to her he was simply postponing answering her question. _Damn him! He's gonna make this as difficult for me as possible, isn't he?_

'Not letting you escape so easily this time, Max.' He said finally, answering slowly, as if he had all the time in the world. 'What happened before? Why'd you run out so quickly? Did you really to need to be here? Or did I do something again without realising it. Did I offend you with my, I don't know, not stuffing up? Is that it? Are you disappointed in me cause I _didn't_ stuff up?' he joked.

'I told Cindy I'd meet her here and I was late, no big deal.' She lied, coming around her bike to try and grab her keys back off him. But he jumped off his bike gracefully and backed away from her before she could. _Still trying to make things difficult. AH! He's like a little child sometimes! An adorable little child… no, don't think that. Just get your keys back, and go home. But I don't want to go home just yet. Yes, you do, get your keys and leave._ Alec continued talking, as if he was totally unaware of the internal battle ragging inside Max's head.

'No, no, no. Not yet, Maxie. You think after having known you for a year that I can't tell when you're lying? And you could've at least come up with a better excuse, cause you'd never arrange to meet Cindy here on the same night as you had a heist planned with me.' He said matter-of-factly. He was trying to make her mad so she'd answer him.

She looked up at him and realised he was telling the truth. She didn't know when, but some time in the past year, they had started being able to read each other, sometimes with just a look. She felt like she couldn't hide anything from her, but more then that, she didn't want to. Suddenly her defences fell and impulse won out. _Kiss him._ She leant towards him.

He was leaning casually against the wall, grinning at Max as he watched her internal battle rage. But then he saw something in her eyes shift, and suddenly that look was back in her eyes, the undefinable look from his apartment. He was so caught up in her eyes, trying to decipher that look, that at first he didn't notice her leaning towards him. He realised what she was doing a split-second before he felt her lips on his. It started off gentle, she brushed her lips over his, almost testing. Then, when his brain shifted gears and he started to respond, she lost it. She pushed up hard against him, shoving him against the brick wall behind him. She pressed her lips roughly against his, and pressed her body into his, as close as it would go. She only had a moment to register how well they fit together before Alec pulled on her hair, angling her face back so he could deepen the kiss.

His tongue traced her lips before gently pushing them apart. She obeyed, and her tongue darted out to meet his. _Oh, I knew his lips would be soft, and he tastes so… like Alec. Mmm. It's not meant to be like this with Alec, what's going on? Oh, _shut up and kiss him._ Ok. _Max didn't know how much time past as they stood there, but by the time they pulled apart, they were both breathless, something that had never happened to either of them before. They stared at each other, and it was hard to tell who looked more shocked. But it was Alec who broke the silence, as usual. 'Max…?'

'Don't. Oh god. I gotta blaze.' Max reached down to the ground and picked up her keys from where they had fallen from Alec's hand, hopped on her bike, put it into gear and sped off, leaving a very speechless and confused Alec behind her.

A/N: Ok, so what did you think? Please reply, I really want to know what I could do better/ fix up. Oh, and I'm sorry in advance if I make any continuity errors, cause I keep finding them, so hopefully I've fixed them, but you never know.


	5. Chapter 5: Freak Nation

Disclaimer: I don't own anything… if only

A'N: so, here's the next chapter, sorry the update took longer then I promised, it was a long weekend. Anyway, here it is, hope you like it, I tried to make it as original as possible, but don't worry, after this I move on from the actual show into my own world.

Chapter 5: Freak Nation

A week later, Alec walked into Jam Pony and was surprised when Normal came around the counter singing 'for he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow!' as he held out a small cake with a single candle on top. He looked down at the cake, then back up at Normal.

'The man's finally lost it' Alec said to the room at large, giving Normal a cautious look, and looking at his eyes, trying to detect anything different, like dilated pupils or something. _Yeah right, like Normal would ever take drugs, or like he'd need them to do something like this. The man's a walking, talking fruit cake._

'Many happy returns there buddy boy.' Normal said to him, still holding the cake out for him. _What… oh, he thinks it's my birthday. He really is insane, like I even know when my birthday, thanks to good ol' Manticore. Not that I really care, I mean it's just another notch on the belt, so to speak. And why would I want to celebrate getting older anyway? Who wants to be old?_

'It's not my birthday.' Alec said, looking up at Normal, trying not to look like he was looking at a crazy person, which he was sure he was. _Not my fault the guy's stark raving cuckoo… crazy…uh, or whatever that saying is._

'Yeah, it's right there in black and white on your application form.' Normal informed him. _Ah crap, I forgot I had to do that, didn't realise how long it's been since I started here. But as if Normal even remembered… unless he checked, and noted it down somewhere. God, the man's a nut job._ Normal gave him the cake, and he looked down at it and said 'Oh, yeah, yeah. Boy, nothing gets by you, does it, Normal?' _Yep definitely nuts. Oh, that time with the dream about the gladiators…_ Alec repressed a shudder. _Don't think about that, push it out of your mind forever, man. Damn Manticore's excellent memory dealio._

'Now, I made that without eggs and butter, all right? I know you like to look after the ol' physique. Go ahead, blow it out.' Normal told him. Alec tuned Normal out then, and blew out the candle. _Best to appease the man, the fact that he's obsessed with me can, occasionally, make life a lot easier. Just deal with it, soldier._ He almost cringed to himself at the use of the word soldier. _Damn, Manticore ingrained that so far into us it's never gonna go, is it?_ He turned to Sketchy, and they shrugged to each other as if saying _why not,_ before they both took a bit of the cake and tasted it. They both regretted it instantly and Alec had to resist the urge to spit his back out, it was disgusting. One look at Sketchy told him that he wasn't alone in his thoughts, and he walked quickly around Normal and OC, who were currently discussing Max's whereabouts; _yeah, any minute, sure Cindy. And I'm a monkey's uncle… well actually…_, and discreetly threw out the cake on his way to his locker. _Dum dee dum, where am I off to next? Sector two, fantastic, another day of mindless idiots to smile at; no wonder I'm always looking for ways to put a little excitement in my life, Max can't really blame me… hmm, I wonder where Max is anyway? She's probably with Logie the roller-boy, god he's the biggest loser I've ever met. What does she see in him, anyway? He's so… ah, what do I care, anyway?_

20 minutes later he was on his bike, on his way out to a run, when he ran, literally, into Joshua. 'Alec, I'm so glad to see you' Joshua said hurriedly to Alec, who was so stunned at seeing Joshua and Mole outside Jam Pony that all he could manage to get out was 'uh-huh'. Joshua continued talking, saying 'This is Gem, she's having a baby' as he indicated to the young X5 woman standing behind him. When he looked down and saw the obviously pregnant woman, he snapped right back out of his shock.

'Oh, so naturally you thought of dropping by Jam Pony in broad daylight.' He may have sounded normal, but inside he was freaking out by going, _so not good, this is so not good. We need to get them back to TC right now. Oh this is _so_ not good._ He could hear Joshua talking, but was distracted by the sight of police cars at the end of the street. 'Don't turn around, don't turn around. Keep walking, keep walking.' He told them as they started heading for the other end of the street. They tried to act casual, but the cops had seen them, and the large rifle Mole was carrying didn't help either.

'You in the hood, drop your weapons.' One of the cops yelled as another cop car pulled up in front of them. More cops started yelling at them to put their hands up. _Shit, could this get any worse?_

'Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa!' Alec yelled, putting his hands up in front of him, as if he to say 'easy'. He didn't have a plan, but before he could even formulate one he heard a shot behind him and Mole had grabbed the collar of his shirt and was suddenly using him as a hostage. Mole yelled at the police 'Get back or he's dead' and out of the corner of his eye, Alec saw Joshua put an arm around Gem to pretend to use her as a hostage, and he pointed the gun in the air but Gem grabbed his arm to point it at herself. Then Mole whispered to him as he yanked his collar 'Play along.' Alec had to resist the urge to roll his eyes at that one. _What am I gonna do, seriously? You're the one with a gun to my head, Mole. I had to tempt fate, I had to ask if this could get any worse, didn't I? Max is so gonna kick my ass when she gets here… She better get her ass here soon._ But he didn't say all this to Mole, obviously as he'd probably get shot, so he simply said 'yeah, no problem.'

They backed up into Jam Pony, and all the bike messengers looked up at them and froze. Alec muttered to Mole as the walked 'Don't blow my cover.' Mole gave an almost imperceptible nod of the head and then shoved him forward, sticking his gun into his back.

'Got a back door?' Mole asked him.

'Yeah.' Alec said, and Mole grabbed his collar again and started to drag him towards the back.

'Alright, nobody move' Mole yelled at everyone as they headed for the back door. Alec opened it, but as they exited, they saw that they were blocked by even more cop cars. _Not good, not good. Oh this is not going to end well. Shit!_

'No no no no no no no no no no, go back!' Alec told them, and he and Mole turned to go back in but they weren't quite quick enough. Alec felt a bullet pierce his left shoulder. _That's gonna hurt in the morning,_ he thought. They got back inside and Mole closed the door, but they came back into the main room only to find Normal pointing a gun at them.

'Hold it there freak show.' Normal said to them, looking at Joshua and Mole. The he looked at Alec. 'You're bleeding' Alec looked down at his arm and nearly sighed. _Oh he's so perceptive. I got shot, of course I'm bleeding._

'Yeah, bullets will do that to you.' He quipped, almost wincing as he realised that that probably wasn't how an ordinary would react to a bullet wound. _Oh well, too late._

'Ok, you're safe now.' Normal told him, and Alec had to quickly asses the situation. _They'll never look up to you again. Oh who are you kidding, no one in their right mind would look up to you. But they'll never admire you, you'll always be the freak. There'll be no escaping White now; everyone will know what you are. Oh, what the hell. Life's been a little quiet lately, why not liven things up a bit?_

'No…' he blurred forward and, twisting Normal's arm up and around, took the gun from him. 'I'm safe now.' He saw Mole pointing his gun at Normal, and gestured to him to lower it. One of the messengers behind him got up to run, but was knocked down by Cece. 'Nobody move' she ordered. Alec looked at her. 'Cece, call base, tell them we're in trouble.' She nodded and headed for the phone. Alec looked to Mole and Joshua. 'Joshua, take the front. Mole, you got the back?' they both nodded and moved to their positions. Then he turned to the kid. _Damn, a kid that young should be out in the streets playing with his friends. Not dealing with this shit. _'Hey kid, what's your name?' he asked

'Dalton' the young X6 answered.

'Ok Dalton, I want you to go upstairs, keep an eye on the street for me.' Dalton nodded his head then ran upstairs to his post. _Almost a year, and when it comes down to it, we're all still soldiers. Guess there are some things that you can't forget, that are ingrained into you. Oh Manticore would be so proud of themselves if they could see us now, bastards._

A short while later Alec was checking the news on the T.V. when he heard a loud crash behind him. He turned around, prepared to fight, but what he saw was not what he was expecting. Max was sliding across the floor on a hoverdrone, and when it came to a stop she looked up, smiled, and said 'Hey, who ordered a pizza?' She jumped off and Alec couldn't help thinking _Ah Maxie, always did love her dramatic entrances._

Max walked around, checking on everyone, making sure they were all ok, trying to calm the workers down. Eventually she managed to convince them all that they would be fine, that they weren't going to kill any of them. Then she looked over and saw Alec, leaning against a wall. _Look at him, he's so…_ but whatever she'd been about to think was lost when she noticed… Dalton, was it, or something like that, standing next to him, wrapping a bandage around his shoulder. _Oh my god! Alec! Calm down woman, he's standing isn't he? If he was seriously hurt he wouldn't be standing, and he's not even whining about it, like he always does, he's fine. Just breathe, get everyone back to TC in one piece then you can worry all you like._

'Hey, what's that?' she asked, trying to sound a lot more calm and unconcerned then she actually was.

'It's a hole, in my body, made by a bullet.' He replied easily, not letting on how much it hurt.

'Been there, done that. Dalton, right?' she said turning to the young kid. He nodded 'ok Dalton, I want you to keep an eye on him. He's very, reckless, and if this goes bad I need you to have his back in case I can't. Can you do that?' Dalton nodded at her, and a smile covered his face, while Alec simply glared.

'I am not reckless, I'm just a… a free spirit, that's all. Yeah, I'm a free spirit, and you Maxie, just cramp my style.' He grinned at her, and she rolled her eyes and smacked him up the back of his head. He shook his head slightly, and gave a soft sigh. Then she turned and walked away to talk to OC and Gem.

Half an hour later, their group began to make its way towards the door. Cece, Gem and Cindy were all acting as shields. Max received the all clear from Clemente, and they headed out. But they had barely gone two steps when she felt Alec stiffen beside her. _What…?_ 'Max, there are still snipers, get back. Get back!' he yelled to everyone. They all looked around at him in confusion. Max looked up, following his line of sight, and saw the snipers taking aim at them. 'GO!' she yelled, and they all turned and ran back inside, but not before Cece was shot. She stumbled through the doorway, followed by Alec and Mole, who had been shooting at the snipers. They came inside and slammed the door down behind them. Alec turned and saw Max bending over Cece, who had collapsed on the floor, and she was applying pressure to her left shoulder.

'Hey, is she ok?' he bent down next to Max and looked down at Cece. 'Dalton, get more bandages. It's ok Cece, you're gonna be fine. Bullet went straight through, we just need to stop the bleeding.' She nodded, then closed her eyes against the pain. Dalton handed him the bandages and he and Max set to work patching her up as everyone surrounded them, watching in silence. No one noticed Logan standing silent in the corner; all eyes were on Alec and Max. While they worked, Alec' mind wandered back to a similar situation from a year ago; they were patching up a bullet wound, except in a young male, and they had been in an old barn instead of Jam Pony, but they had been working together to keep a fellow soldier alive, from an ambush attack.

'Hey Max, remember the first time we did this? Wonder how old Bullet is now. His leg was probably as good as new two weeks later. Ha. Guess that's one thing we can thank Manticore for, huh?' he grinned at Max as they finished up, and by her soft smile, saw that she too was remembering Bullet and the rest of his 'family'.

'They were good kids. Hopefully they stuck together and maybe we'll even see them around here some time.' They finished, and Alec gently lifted Cece up and carried her over to a couch. Max looked around her. 'OC, can you watch Gem and Cece? Mole, back door, Joshua, front. Dalton…'

'Upstairs? Got it' he said, and ran upstairs again. When everyone had settled down again, she walked over to Alec. 'Hey, you did good. It you hadn't seen those snipers…' she trailed off, her voice hitching. They both knew what would have happened if he hadn't seen those snipers. He pulled her close, and wrapped his arms around her. She did the same, and sunk into him, letting him relax her. She breathed in his scent, his uniquely male, uniquely _Alec_ scent, and was surprised at how strong an affect it had on her. His smell alone was comforting to her. 'I could've lost you Alec. I didn't see them, I didn't notice, and I almost lost you.' Her voice was less then a whisper, so low that only the transgenics could hear, and even then it was barely audible.

'Hey, shh, I'm alright. You know me, Maxie, I'm always alright.' He looked down and grinned at her and she couldn't help but smile back at him. He had an odd way of always making her feel… safe. Like nothing could go wrong if he was there, although that wasn't exactly true. Trouble had a habit of finding him, or vice versa. Maybe it was just that she knew he would never let anything happen to her, he had her back, no matter what. She gave him a squeeze, then made to step away, but he held on to her a moment longer. He studied her face, checking that she was really ok, that she could handle this. He nodded his approval and released her.

Just then Mole grabbed Sketchy and held his gun to him. Alec and Max snapped to attention just in time to hear Mole saying something about killing a hostage every hour. 'No. Let him go Mole.' Max ordered, to no avail. Mole just stood there, and the two transgenics tried to stare each other down, neither winning. That was when Logan decided to make his presence known by saying 'Let him go Mole'. This earned him a glare from Mole, and Alec finally gave into the urge to roll his eyes. _And the prize for the world's biggest idiot goes to… Logan Cale, ladies and gentlemen!_ Mole rarely took orders from anyone, including him and Max, but an ordinary_? Especially Logan, who was always high and mighty with his whole Eyes Only thing? And what's he doing here anyway?_ He walked over to Mole, who was still clutching Sketchy's top. He laid a hand on his arm, and Mole turned to look at him.

'Hey Mole. Look, I know this is stressful. Well, that's an understatement, but anyway. And I know it's a lot harder for you guys, you and Joshua and Dix, cause you don't fit in out in the _real_ world, and you guys are stuck in TC like 24/7. But we get what it's like to be considered a freak, to be looked at like you've got two heads or something. Look around Mole, cause these people aren't just staring at you. They're staring at me; they're staring Max and Cece, at all of us. Some of these people have known Max for years, for god's sake, but suddenly cause they found out she was made in a lab, they're looking at her like she's about to blow them up of something. You know why those snipers were out there, Mole – this is what they want. They want us to respond _exactly_ like this, so they can prove their point. Well, I for one don't want to prove anyone's point unless it's mine. In fact, most days I like to prove others wrong, and today that is _precisely_ what we need to do. I'm not a monster and neither are you. In fact, none of us are. And I won't let them make us monsters.' Mole glared at him, but he released Sketchy. He turned his back on Alec, but he wasn't letting this go. He grabbed the lizard-man's arm and swung him back around.

'Hey! We're in this together. You, me, Joshua, Max, all of us. We need to stick together because we need to get through this _alive_.' He noticed the murderous look in Mole's eyes and added 'Hey, you still wanna kick my ass when we get back to TC I will gladly, well not gladly, but I will stand in as your punching bag. But don't turn your back on us. Not now, cause we're not turning our backs on you. A smart-ass chick once reminded me of the one good thing Manticore taught us – _never abandon your unit._'

_Wow, he's handling this so calmly. He'd be a good leader. Huh, who'd have thought? And I can't believe that what I said actually sunk in._ But Max's thoughts were interrupted by Logan. _God, Logan. What the hell is he doing here? It's not his fight, he's gonna get himself killed, I swear, he's such an idiot. _She managed to suppress the urge to roll her eyes as she turned towards him.

'It was White, Max. White's men did this, not the cops. And there's more. I translated the new runes. The gist was something like there's something bad, like maybe biblically bad, coming and you're gonna be the one to stop it.' Max just stared at him, then she turned to look at Alec, who she was glad to see was looking just as confused as she was. Then she made up her mind. _I need to stop this, or I'm gonna end up getting everyone I love killed, I'm gonna get Alec killed._

'I'm going out there. It's me White wants.' Max turned and started to head towards the door, but she suddenly found her path blocked by Alec, who looked down at her like she was crazy.

'No, Max. I'm not letting you walk out there. Even if he gets you, he'll still come after us. You know White – he won't stop until he's killed everyone in this building, so he can blame it on us and turn even more people against our kind. He won't stop hunting us just cause he's got you. We need you in here Max, and when this is over TC is gonna need you.' He lowered his voice so only Max could hear him, but even barely and added 'I need you.' She looked up at him, stared straight into his eyes, and she knew in that moment that she loved him, that she always had. Max nodded and started to smile, but then she stiffened and she turned around slowly.

'_What about the hostages?'_

'_Let's show the viewers at home what the mutant menace does to innocent people. Take out the hostages, the freaks, the kid… take out anything with a pulse.'_

'Max? Maxie? What's wrong?' Max turned back around slowly, a look of horror covering her face as she looked up at him.

'They're coming.'

A/N: Ok, so I'll make this quick, cause I have to go to class – sport at 8:30am on a Monday is just cruel! Anyway, hope you liked it! Please review!!!!


	6. Chapter 6: Raising the Flag

Disclaimer: Don't own Dark Angel, would it have been cancelled ever if I did? Although, if you think about it, if it hadn't been cancelled, then we wouldn't have all those Jessica Alba movies, and Jensen would never have been on those other shows, and he might not be on Supernatural now shudders

A/N: So, here's the next chapter. Hopefully you like it, and if you notice, I didn't re-write the rest of Freak Nation, I just moved on. So this is the very end of Freak Nation, when they raise the flag, but of course, it's a bit different. Hope you like it.

Chapter 6: Raising the Flag

As the sun rose, transgenics all over TC were gathered to watch the small group on top of their highest building. As they watched, a pole was raised into the air, and on top was their new flag. It was at that moment that transhumans and X's all felt united for the first time.

Max watched Joshua and Mole raise their new flag. Next to her, Alec stood quietly, reflecting. She smiled at him. _Who knows how things could've gone at Jam Pony if he hadn't been there to calm Mole down, to calm me down._ On impulse, she reached out and took his hand in hers. He looked down at their hands, then up at her face and he smiled at her. She knew that eventually they would have to discuss what had happened, everything that had happened, but for now, she just wanted it to stay like this for now. She tried not to think of the revelation she'd made in Jam Pony. _I love him, when did that happen?_ The thought scared her, and she didn't know what to do with it. So she did what she did best in this type of situation; she squashed them down, to be dealt with later. _Although knowing Alec, that later will end up being sooner then I want._ She couldn't help smiling again at that thought. They stood like that for a few minutes before he said softly 'We've got work to do.' She nodded to him, and slowly everyone started to make their way to headquarters.

Once everyone was there, and literally everyone, Max called them all to order. 'Last night, we all made the choice to stay and fight. Well, now it's time to start making that a reality. We know that there are groups here in TC, but what we need to do is bring them together, so we're gonna need a chain of command, one that everyone is happy with. But each group will need to self-elect a representative for the council. That can be done later. Right now, we need a leader.' Before she could continue, she was interrupted by Alec, who earned a glare but continued anyway.

'Max is right; we need a Commanding Officer, a Second in Command and a Director. These three people need to include all transgenic types, and yes that does include transhumans as well as X series. I don't know about the rest of you, but I think Max should be CO, and Mole should be our transhuman representative. But it's you who need to decide. Now some of you are probably going to protest, because to you Max is still an '09er' to you, but we've all seen what she's done for TC these last few months and she cares more then anyone I've ever met. And if it wasn't for her, we wouldn't even be here. We'll nominate in half an hour, then we vote.' And he turned away, indicating for Max to follow him to her office.

'Alec…' Max began once they were inside her office, but he cut her off again.

'Not now Max. This next hour will change everything in TC and it's gonna be critical in the future of this place. Lots of people here were trained to hate you – you abandoned us, abandoned Manticore. But, as I said, lots of them have seen you in action around here and they know how dedicated you are, and…' This time it was Max who interrupted him.

'Alec, what makes you think I'll be CO? You're right; a lot of them don't trust me. They don't know me. You, on the other hand, they all love. So many of them know you, or know of you. You should be CO.' she said the last bit softly. He looked up at her, startled by her announcement.

'No, been there, done that, as you would say. I don't want that kind of power, ever again. You'll be CO.' he said it as a statement, leaving no option for discussion. Max was stunned at the way he said it with such finality that she was speechless for a few seconds. _Alec was a CO back at Manticore? How come no one ever told me? How come _he_ never told me?_

'Only if you'll be my SIC.' He looked at her and was treated to her most stubborn look – the one she reserved for him alone. She looked beautiful, hands on hips, chin stuck out slightly, eyes just daring him to disagree with her. He had never been one to refuse a dare, so he said 'We'll see.' And he was pleased to note that she huffed, just a little.

'It's up to them to decide. Now, we got other things to do before then. First, we'll need to get Sketchy, Cindy and Logan out in the next few days.' And they spent the next half hour planning. They had lost track of time, and had forgotten the meeting until Mole knocked on the door and came in.

'Everyone's waiting for you' he said quickly before retreating back through the door. Max and Alec walked out to find everyone was, indeed, waiting for them, and Gem was standing apart from everyone. Everyone looked at Max and Alec, then back to Gem.

'Since you were otherwise _occupied_, we took the liberty of voting without you. Mole's our new director. We voted Max CO, on one condition – Alec is SIC. I'll be honest, a lot of people wanted Alec to be CO, but those who knew him, namely Biggs, said that he wouldn't take the role. But if he wants Max to be CO, then he has to be SIC, cause the public has spoken. This, of course, also means that Max has to be CO, which makes this whole big loop thingy, so anyway… Make us proud, guys. Oh, and all the groups have elected their representatives. Some groups merged, cause some were really small, so we have 14 representatives in total. three transhumans, eleven X series. Six X5s, three X6s and two X7s. But at the rate that this place is growing by, we'll probably end up with more. And of course, there's also you two and Mole.'

'Ok, first meeting in one hour. That gives everyone the chance to primary list of needs from their groups.' Then she turned to Alec and added 'and us the chance to set up. Come on. Mole, you too.' And the three of them walked to Max's office to prepare for their first day as an officially untied City.

In another building, on the other side of TC, Joshua entered Gem's apartment in search of Original Cindy. 'Hi Gem, is Cindy here?'

'In the bedroom.' He headed towards it, but just as he went to open it Gem said in her best motherly voice 'Knock first.'

'Sorry.' He knocked, and a minute later he heard Cindy's voice telling him to come in. Before she could even greet him, he started talking. 'Cindy, I'm worried about Alec and Max.'

'Why boo? I know they fight a lot, but they'll be fine leaders. In the past two days, I haven't seen them fight once, and some of that was before this whole thing even started. That's gotta be some sort of record for them.' _Yeah, and hopefully they can keep it up long enough to figure out that they are totally hot for each other. Things will be much easier around here once those get together, cause as much as Original Cindy loves watching those two dance around each other, my boo needs to get laid! But I'm not gonna be the one to tell her that._

'No, not as leaders. As Alec and Max.' Joshua wasn't sure how to voice his concerns; he didn't know how to say it right. He didn't understand why that had been acting so… 'Why are Alec and Max so stupid?' he finally asked, and Cindy looked at him, very confused by his question. _Stupid? Who's he calling stupid?_

'Stupid? I know Alec does some dumb things, but I wouldn't go as far as to call him stupid. And Max…''

'No. Alec loves Max. Max loves Alec.' He stated, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, which, actually, it was to most anyone who spent a day with the two of them. Or even a couple of hours. And when he said this, Cindy understood his question.

'Oh, ya mean that. Yeah, boo, I know. But sometimes you just gotta give these things time. But you be sure to keep an eye on them, and keep me informed, cause I ain't gonna be here.' She sounded sad as she said this last bit, and Joshua pulled her into a hug. He knew it would probably be a while before he saw her again, and he would miss her. She looked up at him then, and smiled slyly. 'Then again, boo, my girl and her boy are both very stubborn. And if things don't work out soon, we may need to… nudge them along a little.'

'Forget it Max. There's no way. We're not doing it. I know you think it's your fault, or whatever, but right now we've got more important things to figure out. Like how to _feed everyone_.' Alec stood across from Max in her office, as she stood behind her desk, and he emphasised the last bit to get his point across.

'I know, Alec. But Logan needs to set up Eyes Only again, and we could use his support at the moment. A lot of people listen to him, they trust him. And besides, it _is_ my fault that his place got shot up, I mean, if he hadn't been doing all that stuff about White, they would've just left him alone.' Alec could've gagged at that moment, he hated it when she talked about Logan and his _Eyes Only_ deal. As far as he was concerned, the guy had a serious hero complex, and he needed to get over it.

'No. He might be a good backer for us, but this is _our_ fight, Max, and we need to fight it ourselves. Our main focus right now needs to be TC and the people in it. Logan's gonna need to find some other cat burglar for a while. Tell him his current one is otherwise detained, or I'll do it for you.' Max glared at him. He stared right back, refusing to back down on this. He hadn't been in a good mood, and hearing that Max was planning to do a job for Logan had only made it worse. He might even have come in here to deliberately pick a fight with her. Who knew? Who cared? Right now, he sure as hell didn't.

'Am I gonna have to kick your ass to remind you who's CO here?' she asked. He smiled, but not his usual smile. It was different, one she hadn't seen before. It was cold and slightly wicked, and honestly, it scared her just a little, but she wasn't going to let her know it.

'Bring it on.' He said simply, a glint of challenge in his eyes. And that was all it took. She practically flew over the desk at him. She threw a punch at him, which he avoided. He grabbed her arm, twisted up behind her and threw her forward onto her desk. She flipped over and kicked out at him, sending him flying across the room into the opposite wall. They both jumped up at the same time, going into their fight stances as they watched each other.

They raced forward at the same time, and for a few minuted they were a blur of arms and legs as they punched, kicked and blocked. That is, until Max realised that she was losing. He was stronger, faster… _better_, she realised. _He _let_ me win all those other times. Why?_ This thought distracted her long enough for him to get a punch in that sent her flying. He was on top of her, pinning her down before she could even catch her breath. She looked up, and as she looked into his eyes, saw that they had returned to normal and she realised that he had needed to blow off some steam, and she decided that it was definitely better that he had done it with her. But she also realised that everything he had said about Logan, and TC had been true, and so she nodded her head in defeat. He stood up and held out his hand to help her up. She eyed it warily and then took it. When she was standing, she studied him.

'All those times, you let me win?' she asked, looking at his face. But his trusty Manticore mask was firmly back in place. 'Why?' she asked. He shrugged his shoulders, but when she continued to stare at him, he sighed and answered her.

'I never felt like winning before, and you were always so intent on kicking my ass, so…' She could only look at him, incredulity cover her face.

'What…?' was all she could manage to get out; she was so shocked by his statement.

'Well, Alec is it now? Well, you always did have a knack for shocking people into silence.' At the voice, both Max and Alec stiffened and looked toward the doorway.

A/N: so, did you like it? Please, review! please! and if there's anything I can do better, let me know. Does it make sense? oh, and sorry for the cliff hanger! I couldn't help myself! Please review!!!!! Thanks. Oh, and just FYI, Logan did not save Alec from that stupid familiar, but I don't think I mentioned it in this chapter.


	7. Chapter 7: Old Faces

Disclaimer: I don't own anything!!

A/N: Ok, here's the next chapter! I changed it a bit, after reading your reviews! Thanks so much, by the way! Anyway, hope this satisfies for now!

Chapter 7: Old Faces

'Well, Alec is it now? Well, you always did have a knack for shocking people into silence.' At the voice, both Max and Alec stiffened and looked toward the doorway.

Shock covered Alec's face, followed by recognition and surprise. Then there was joy. 'Oh, and I'm still Bree.' She added, before she raced forward into Alec's arms to give him a hug. They hugged for almost a minute and then he pulled her back and held her out at arms length. As he held her, he studied her. She'd changed, grown up since the last time he'd seen her. But she was still Bree. Her face still looked about three years younger then she actually was, which was very deceiving. But then, that was how she had been made. If you looked at her now, you would guess her age around 13, but he knew she'd be at least 16 by now. Her hair was growing long, nearly as long as Max's now, but in soft curls, and it was still a light brown, almost gold on top. Her eyes were hazel, similar to his, but hers were fiery, they held passion and, he knew, a temper that simmered just beneath the surface. Her face was perfect, it would be an artist's dream come true. He pulled her close again, kissed her forehead and then drew her back away to look at the rest of her. _Yes, she's definitely grown up. And the male X6s aren't going to know what hit them. That should provide some entertainment._

'You grew up' he informed her, then laughed at the face she gave him. 'But you're still Bree, still my temperamental Bree. How've you been? What've you been doing since Manticore went down?' He asked. He had so many questions; he didn't know where to start. He'd thought about her often after their mission, what had happened to her, what Manticore had done. And then after Manticore had gone down, he'd looked for her, very discreetly. And now she was here, and he couldn't believe it.

'Oh, you know, this and that. I got a job as a secretary, at the place where Shellie worked, actually.' She looked up at him. 'Did you ever find out what happened to them?' she asked softly, half afraid to hear the answer. He had known she was going to ask him this. He had regretted not telling her, the day he found out, but he hadn't wanted her to get in trouble. She had still been young, and he hadn't wanted her put through Psy-ops the way he had been. So he had protected her, and not told her. And he had taken the fall.

'They ran. They left a letter – I never told Manticore that I knew, and I didn't tell you cause I didn't want you sent to Psy-ops. I knew they'd be able to tell with a preliminary questioning whether or not you knew anything, and I didn't want to risk it, despite how good a liar you were.' He looked down at her and saw relief flood her face, followed by indignation. 'I'm sorry, but it was for your own good, and don't give me that look. I didn't see the point of both of us going to Psy-ops, and I'd already been through there, so there was no point in making you do it too.' She smiled at him and then pulled him in for another hug. This was why she'd loved him, because he was always looking out for everyone else first.

'I always hoped they had gotten away. I couldn't sleep for a month afterwards. I remember one of the doctors saying they shouldn't have sent you, how it had become another…' she trailed off, not wanting to bring it up, or even let him know that she knew.

'Like what?' he asked, although he was pretty sure he already knew the answer. _Rachel. No, Bree can't mean that, she never knew about it, did she?_ 'Like the Berrisford case?' she nodded her head softly, letting it hang in shame. 'How did you find out about that?'

'Two days before we went out, as we were leaving a briefing, I overheard Sandaval telling you not to make them disappointed again, like last time. That this was your chance to redeem yourself, to not let this be another Berrisford job. I wasn't supposed to hear, but I did, and then I was curious' _Of course she was, she was Bree._ 'I asked around before we left, and I did a search on a computer one day, when you and Shellie were out, and James was in his room, and I kind of put it together. I'm sorry.' She looked down at the floor, guilt covering her face. _I had no idea. How the hell did I not know? Well, this explains a lot. Oh, look at her face, I can't leave her like that… well, maybe just a minute… ok, I guess that's enough._

'It's ok.' He told her as he pulled her in for another hug. Max watched them, and felt her heart reach for him. She knew about Rachel, and what it had done to him. She had thought she was the only one who knew about her. _Guess not, this girl seems to know all about it. And who the _hell_ is Shellie? Ok, down girl._ This girl seemed to know him so well, and they looked so close, Max could hardly believe it was really Alec standing in front of her showing such an open display of affection. And it appeared that they had done a job together, but this girl looked barely thirteen, so why would Manticore have sent her on a job? It didn't look like Alec was going to be introducing her any time soon, or that he even remembered she was in the room, so she decided to do it herself.

'Another Manticore alum, huh?' She asked, breaking the silence. Two pairs of hazel eyes turning to look at her. _Their eyes are so similar, except different. His are full of laughter, hers are… passionate? Hmm, she'll be an interesting one to have around here._ They broke apart, as if ashamed at being caught showing so much affection; Manticore did not like affection, and try as they may, a lot of Manticore things were still stuck in them. Alec cleared his throat.

'Yeah, this is Bree, otherwise known as X6-683. We did a mission together, about 6 months before you came back. Bree, this is Max, TC's CO and the reason we stand here today.' At Bree's confused look he added 'the reason that we're all out in the real world; she took down Manticore' he grinned at Bree as realisation dawned on her face.

'Well then, I guess thanks are in order.' She smiled at Max. 'So, how long have you know Alec?' she asked, causing Max to break out in laughter.

'Since the day he walked into my cell and ordered me to copulate with him. It wasn't a great first impression, and although he continued to dig himself into a hole for a while, he has since redeemed himself, although it took him a while; he kept digging the hole a bit bigger' She smiled at him and he grinned as they both remembered all the times he had gotten himself into trouble and Max had had to come and bail his ass out. Bree watched them, and she knew. They were in love with each other, but as she continued watching them, she realised that they didn't know it yet. _Hmm, this will make life in TC very interesting. Luke, I mean Alec, in love. Not like last time though, I hope it's not like last time. _She looked over at Alec.

'Seriously? You _ordered_ her to _copulate_ with you? What…? Oh, you got him for the breeding program. Man, I would pay money to have been there to see that. How did you react? She asked, looking expectantly at Max with a grin on her face.

'I kicked him into a wall and told him that that was the only kind of physical contact that we were gonna have.' Max laughed at the memory, and Bree laughed just imagining it. She couldn't imagine Alec's reaction at having been kicked away by a woman.

'Yes, and then of course I let you escape only so you could infect Logan, only to come and try and take you back to Manticore.' Alec continued. 'And then I tried to kill Joshua, and when that didn't work out the way I wanted, I tried to kill you instead. Oh, sorry about that whole thing, ya know. No hard feelings?' he asked, grinning at her. She couldn't help but smile back; it seemed like such a long time ago, and she almost understood why he had done it, and in the end, he hadn't been able to anyway.

'Yeah, no hard feelings. Then you started working at Jam Pony, which of course I hated at first. But then you started helping out with all the Transgenics, and I have to admit that I realised that you weren't _quite_ the screw up, and waste of space, or self-absorbed jerk, that I had originally thought.' She smiled at Alec, then turned to Bree. 'Of course, now he's TC's SIC and currently a _pain in my ass_.' She said, emphasising the last four words. Alec glared at her.

'It's not happening Max, Mole agrees. It's two against one, end of story. And I don't care if you're CO, and I think I just proved that I can kick your ass if need be.' He ended their discussion just like that, and turned his attention to Bree asking 'Now, Bree, who are you staying with?'

'Uh, no idea. I have no clue as to who's here, I haven't had any contact with anyone from Manticore until now. Although, uh the giant lizard man, Mole is it? Yeah, he told me that there's lots of other X6s here, so…'

'Well, for now Gem is in charge of housing and stuff, so let's go introduce you to her, see if she can't find you an apartment.' They walked out, Alec's arm around her shoulder. Bree turned her head one last time to see Max staring at them. She caught her eye, and the two shared a knowing look. _Yep, Alec is definitely a strange man, always taking people by surprise. He did have family at Manticore, he just didn't know it. A big brother, who'd have thought?_ Max thought to herself, and she smiled as they left.

'Hey, what's up?' Bree came up behind Max, who was bending over a table looking at some documents. She'd been assigned an apartment, and Alec had already taken her to it, then he'd been called away by someone called Dix, so Bree had made her way back to HQ in search of Max. She wanted to get to know her, and in some part of her mind, she knew it was because she wanted to make sure she was good enough for Alec.

'Oh, Bree, hey. Not much, just going over figures and stuff. What about you, did Gem find you a place to stay?' She asked, looking up from her papers.

'Yeah, I'm rooming with another X6 girl, Jo, that I knew back at Manticore. She's nice and we get along, so I think it'll work out.' She told her, trying to figure out how to broach the subject of Alec in just the right way.

'Good, cause we don't want to have people fighting amongst themselves right now.' Max said. _Well, she brought it up, so I guess now's as good a time as any, _Bree thought.

'Unless it's you and Luke, I mean Alec.' Max's head snapped up, and when Bree saw the look in her eyes she threw up her hands and said 'Hey, I know what he's like. I lived with him for four months.' She looked up at Max, and got a nod of agreement. So she continued 'But I also know that when he gets as stubborn as he was with this thing of yours, he's usually right. He made a lot of good calls on our mission, and I know that if he hadn't done some of those things, or if we'd gone another way, then Shellie and James probably wouldn't still be alive. Maybe you should trust him.' When Max simply stared at her she said 'it's just a suggestion, feel free to continue ignoring him if you want. But it might be easier to listen to him once in a while, and if you guys are gonna be our leaders, you've at least gotta listen to each other. That said, you are the leader, and I guess it's up to you. So, you've know Alec a year, huh? Well, I can tell you, not much has changed.' She laughed as she said this and Max smiled at her. She could imagine that was true.

'So, you two did a mission together? Cause, no offence, but you look really young, like too young to have been sent out on a mission by Manticore, especially two years ago.' Max said, trying not to insult her, but Bree simply laughed.

'Yeah, that's the way I was designed. I'm actually one of the oldest X6s, but you'd think I was one of the youngest, or even an X7, wouldn't you? Manticore designed me so that I look about three years younger then I actually am. Can be really useful, like on our mission, but other times not so much. It's a pain in the ass a lot of the time, actually. I'm about 16 and I should be 17 soon, I think. I chose a birthday when I applied for a job. November 2nd. It was nice to put a date on it, you know, after 16 years of the whole Manticore not telling you and stuff.' She noticed Max was staring at her, incredulity on her face, and she laughed. 'Sorry, I know I talk a lot. I can't help myself, I think it's to compensate for all those years at Manticore, cause we couldn't do a whole lot of talking there.'

'Huh, that explains Alec then. Or at least, semi-explains him. Some of that is purely Alec.' This caused both females to laugh, and that moment started a bond between them.

'Tell me about your mission together.'

'Hey Alec! ALEC!' Alec stopped in his tracks, and turned around to see Biggs running after him.

'Oh, were you looking for me? I'm sorry, I didn't realise.' Alec said, mock sincerity in his eyes and voice. Biggs glared at him.

'Yeah right, you knew I was chasing you for the last three blocks, otherwise you wouldn't have started blurring. Man, you're evil. I should have just let everyone vote you as CO, that would have taught you a lesson.' Biggs said, and started laughing at the appalled look on Alec's face.

'You wouldn't have!' Alec said, outraged. Biggs simply continued laughing, he couldn't help himself. But when he caught the look in Alec's eyes, he sobered up immediately.

'Sorry man, but the look on your face when I said that, priceless! Come one, you know I wouldn't have let that happen. I'm not heartless. Speaking of this, have you told Max why? Cause she keeps asking me, and it's getting harder to avoid her, it's like she's put out some sort of radar on me, she's always there demanding to know why you wouldn't be CO. It's getting a bit annoying, you know?' he looked up at Alec, trying to decipher the look on his face. _I'm not one for heart to hearts, especially with another dude, but he seriously needs to stop doing this! Jeez, I swear, if these two don't get their act together soon, I'm going to lock them in a room until they do! Which is obviously way easier said then done, but I'll do it if necessary. I just hope that it's not._ He almost shuddered at the thought of having both Max _and_ Alec hunting him down. Not a pleasant thought. Thankfully Alec was still too caught up in his own thoughts to notice his. 'Alec!' He snapped his fingers in front of Alec's face, pulling him out of his reverie.

'Huh? What? Oh, uh, look, she doesn't need to know, ok?' Alec said forcefully. _She doesn't need to know, it's bad enough that she knows I was a CO back at Manticore._ He hadn't meant to let that slip, and now she was harassing Biggs about it, which he knew wasn't fair on his friend. 'Just tell her to ask me, the next time she asks, ok? I'll deal with it.'

'Ok' Biggs said, shrugging, 'But you know she's not gonna leave me alone, or you, so it might just be easier to tell her. It's not like you did anything wrong. You made a choice, and it was the only one you could have made. Any CO would have made the same choice back then. If you hadn't, well, who knows what would have happened to the rest of us.' _Who am I kidding; we all know what would have happened to us if Alec had gone back for 556. We all woulda been toast. It would be so much easier if Max knew, she's much better at the whole comfort thing. Plus, she's a chick! This always sounds way better coming from a chick. Ooh! Cece! She already knows!_ And he made a mental note to ask Cece about it when he got back to their apartment later. He turned to walk away, when he remembered why he had been chasing Alec in the first place. He turned back to Alec, who was still standing there, and said 'By the way, Joshua's looking for you. He's over near the Med building. I think he found two newbies for you.' Biggs laughed at the look on Alec's face before he turned around and walked off.

'Hey, big fella, Biggs told me you were looking for me. What's up?' Alec walked over to Joshua, who was standing near the medical building in front of two X5s that Alec had never seen before, and who he assumed where the _newbies_ that Biggs had been referring to.

'Alec, meet Krit and Syl.' Joshua said to him, and saw surprise and recognition cover his face. _Max's family._

'Max's brother and sister, I presume?' They nodded their heads, both studying his face intently. He saw them studying him, and it took him a few seconds to realise why. _Ben._ He used to hate Ben, but after that night at Max's apartment, he'd stopped hating and started to understand. He still didn't get it all, but he understood how Max felt about him, and he knew it wasn't really Ben's fault; he was just doing what they'd been trained to really, just a little more extreme. He looked back at Syl and Krit and said 'I know I look like him, and I'm sorry. Hope you won't hold it against me. Now, I'm guess you want to see Max?'

'Yeah, it's been a while. We thought se was dead until a week ago, when we saw the news. Think she'll be happy to see us?' Krit asked, grinning.

'Happy? Are you kidding? She'll be ecstatic, she's always talking about you guys, her family. I've only had the chance to meet one of you before, and that didn't end too well, so seeing you guys will be great for her. Maybe you can talk some sense into her. She's probably in HQ, let's go see if we can find her. You coming Joshua?' he looked at Joshua, who had been standing silently and watching Alec intently, but when Alec turned to him, he looked away quickly and nodded his head.

'Need to see Mole before meeting.' He said.

'Ok, let's go.'

'So, you were Alec's niece? Oh that would have been funny. So you had to call him Uncle Luke?' Max asked Bree as they sat at the table in HQ, Max's papers sat long forgotten between them.

'Yep, that was our cover. My parents had died so 'Uncle Luke' was looking after me. Manticore chose me cause I was older then most of the other X6s, so I had more training, but I looked younger, you know, cause that's they way they made me. It made it easier, too, to pull it off, cause people trust young people, particularly young, _innocent looking_ girls.' Bree grimaced as she said this, and Max laughed at her face.

'Yeah, it's hard enough getting people to take you seriously if you're a woman, but a young girl? No chance. They expect us to be weak and helpless, the damsel in distress, and unless you want to draw attention to yourself, you have to act like it's true and play along.'

'Aww, come on now, Max, you know that's not true. No one could ever accuse you of being a damsel in distress. No one would dare, for fear of your wrath.' Alec's voice rang out across TC as he picked up their conversation from the other side of the room. _Funny, no matter how many people there, and how much noise there is, I can always pick out her voice._ As he looked at her, sitting with Bree, he tried to remember when exactly he'd fallen in love with her, but he, like always, found he could never define a certain moment. It had sort of just crept up on him, unnoticed, until it was on him and there was no going back. And soon, everything was going to change. As soon as he told her that he'd found an old Manticore scientist, the same one who had made her lovely virus, and the same one who could give him the cure for it as soon as he could pay for it. All he needed was for his planned heist tonight to go down according to plan, and he was set. And all he needed for it to go according to plan was a reliable back up, someone who wouldn't tell Max what they were going to do, or anyone else. All he needed was Bree, and they could do this heist, he could pay the scientist and his life would officially be over. _Oh no, not over, but practically. Max will finally be with Logan, and I, I will be alone forever. Oh SNAP OUT OF IT MAN! Distract Max long enough so you can ask Bree about tonight._ Actually, her appearance in TC couldn't have been better timed. She was just the person he needed for tonight.

'Shut up Alec. Where have you been?' Max asked without looking up. Alec shook his head slightly.

'Joshua and I brought you a present. Maxie, I believe there two belong to you?' he asked, and she finally looked up and noticed for the first time the two people standing next to him.

'Krit? Syl? She barely whispered their names, but they heard her. They laughed and nodded and two seconds later Max was hugging them. 'I'm so glad to see you two. I never knew if made it out, but I never saw you in Manticore, and they never talked about you, so I hoped.'

'We thought you were dead. Lydecker said you'd been shot, and that they had got Zack. Then we saw you on the news, thought we were seeing a ghost.' Krit told her, as he studied her. _She looks the same. But she's not. My baby sister is in love, actually in love this time, I never thought I'd see the day. And with Ben's clone, who'd have thought. Wonder how long it will take them to realise it?_

'And then we saw Alec, and we were sure we were going crazy, so we just had to come down here and see for ourselves. You got a pretty good thing going here for everyone.' Syl finished, thinking the same thing as Krit. Max looked from one to the other. They looked exactly the same as they had a year earlier. She hadn't realised how much she'd missed them until she'd seen them standing there. She hadn't realised how much she had needed to know that they were alive, that she hadn't lost them too.

'I'm so glad you guys are here. There's so much going on. But, uh, we're actually just about to start our meeting. Uh, Bree, you know how the whole housing thing works, right?' Bree nodded and Max continued. 'Do you think you could take these two and see if you can get them an apartment? You guys don't mind sharing, do you?' She asked, turning back to Syl and Krit. Syl laughed and said 'No, as long as their's two bedrooms so I don't have to sleep in the same room as him again, I'm fine.' She lowered her voice, but so it was still loud enough to be heard by nearly everyone who was listening, and added 'he snores.' Max and Syl broke out in laughter, as Krit looked indignant.

'I do not snore. She lies' Krit denied, and was denying it two minutes later as he and Syl left HQ with Bree in search of Gem's team, to find them an apartment.

A/N: Ok, there you go! Thanks for the review, I just added the bit with Alec and Biggs, sort of to start explaining why he didn't want to be CO. I'll explain further in a later chapter. Please review, and tell me if there's anything I that doesn't make sense, cause that wouldn't surprise me.


	8. Chapter 8: The Cure

Disclaimer: I own nothing!! Well, I do own stuff, just not Dark Angel

A/N: Here's chapter 8!! Um, it's not as long, but hopefully you like it! Besides, I did two chapters in one day! Although only cause I've been home sick all day. I hate being sick! I'm gonna try and get this story finished quickly though, so I don't have to leave you hanging during my exams.

Chapter 8: The Cure

'So, we're clear about the plan?' Alec asked as he and Bree made their way towards one of the lesser used sewer tunnels out of TC. Getting out of TC was no easy feat, Max had made sure of that on the first day. They had doubled their security, as much to keep people out as to keep them in, and they were both on constant alert for any movement. If someone caught them and Max found out, they were both dead meat. _And she'll want to know why we were leaving. Of course._ Alec sighed. If Max was one tough nut to crack, then her security system was even harder. Bree looked at him.

'Yep. Get into the vault, you get what you need for this cure thing – I still don't understand why you haven't told Max about this.' When he glared at she continued 'Then I get some stuff for TC and we're back out again in 15 minutes, once I've disabled the alarm of course. Oh, and you know, if you just told her she might not react the way you think, and then we wouldn't be forced to sneak out of TC.' He threw her another glare, and she shrugged. 'What?'

'I already told you, I'm telling her tonight, once I've actually got it.'

'I wasn't talking about the cure, Alec.' She said as they reached the end and she got on his bike, which he had moved there early that day. 'Hurry up snail, don't got all night.' She grinned as he got on in front of her and turned on the bike. _Shit, I forgot how good at reading me she was. So that makes two people, count 'em, two people in TC who can read me like a book. Oh, this will be interesting – no, screw that, this is going to make my life hell! I think I need to keep her and Max as far away from each other as possible. Damn, this will be interesting. _

'Hey, little fella, what's up?' Joshua asked, using one of his favourite expression that he'd learnt from Alec; which he'd become quite attached to after Alec had explained it didn't mean what was above you, but what was going on in your life. He thought is was very cool, and said it at every chance he got. He walked towards Max, who was standing with Luke watching monitors.

'Hey big fella, have you seen Alec around? He took off right after the meeting and I haven't seen him since. He mentioned something about having something to do but…' Max trailed off, lost in thought. _Where is he? Probably off with some girl… why does that matter to me though? It's not like I care what he does, or who he does it with, as long as I'm not in the apartment._

'Don't think he's here, Max. He and Bree were going somewhere, that was the plan.' Joshua told her, and she looked up at him. _Bree? Ok, so it is a girl, just not what I thought. Why am I so relieved? Oh who am I kidding, I can't stand the thought of Alec with another girl. There, I admitted to myself! Am I happy now? Oh great, now I'm talking to myself, just great. I'm supposed to be leading a 'nation' and I'm losing my mind. Wait, where would he be going with Bree?_

'Bree? Going somewhere? What? Where…? Oh, I am gonna kill him, he's a dead man. That's why he wasn't being helpful with that new rule that we can't leave TC without filling in a form. He's up to something, and he doesn't want me to know what. That sneaky little… he's a dead man.' She said loudly, and everyone looked up at this, and some, those who could, gathered their things and left, quickly. 'Her first day here and Alec's already got Bree breaking the rules. And he's supposed to be my SIC! What kind of example is he setting, sneaking out of TC, and lying to me?' Max had to suppress a scream. She stalked towards her office, but paused in the doorway and turned to Luke. 'Oh, and Luke, I want to be informed the _minute_ Alec is seen on one of those monitors.' She said, coating her voice in honey. Luke exchanged a glance with Joshua; they both knew Alec was in trouble. With that, Max walked into her office and gave herself the satisfaction of slamming the door behind her.

Max was waiting at the end of the tunnel when Alec and Bree came through into TC, pushing their bikes. The first thing she noticed were the boxes they had balanced on their bikes.

'Alec. Where the _hell_ have you been? And what's with the boxes?' she snapped as she grabbed two of the offending boxes off the top to clear her view of him. But as she noticed what was in the boxes, her thoughts were sidetracked by what she saw. It looked familiar, too familiar. _What…? Hey! This is my stuff! He went to my apartment and… stole my things and brought them to TC?_

'Alec, this is my stuff! You went to my place and got my stuff?' _That was so… wait, he went through my things?_ 'You went through my things? You touched my stuff?' Max truly didn't know whether she should be pissed off at the thought of him going through her things or grateful that he had thought of her. Alec could see this, and he started to laugh at her.

'No, no, Cindy packed your stuff. And we went to Bree's, cause she wanted to get some stuff, like her bike. Oh, and we went to my place, cause I don't know about you, but I was starting to run out of clean clothes.' She glared at him, even though she knew he was right. Or perhaps it was _because_ he was right.

'So this is where you've been? _All night?_' She asked, suspicion coating her question. She looked at them both, and Bree looked away, pretending to look engrossed by something on the wall, and Alec cleared his throat.

'More or less.' He said evasively.

'More or less? Where else did you go, Alec? You can't keep secrets from me.' She held his gaze, daring him to lie.

'Never could.' When she just continued to look at him, he continued. 'Hey Bree, take your stuff to your place, Max take the top box from her pile, it's mine. And Bree, can you take the bikes back? See you at dinner.' Bree nodded as Max took the box from her, then she continued to push her bike towards the garage. Alec stopped his bike, leaving it for Bree, and took the remaining boxes off it, and then Alec and Max walked towards their own apartment. They were sharing for three reasons; first, when they had first assigned housing, they had still been pretending that they were dating, second, there wasn't enough room for separate apartments, and third, Gem had thought it would be funny to make their two leaders share, and see what happened. She had even been nice enough to give them one of the apartments with a single bedroom. She had laughed so hard at their faces when she told them; they had both had such looks of horror at the idea or a single bedroom. Alec had been told very simply, on the first night, that he got the couch.

They walked into their apartment and Max dumped the boxes she had been carrying and turned to face him.

'Ok, so spill. What else were you two doing?' She demanded, and she placed her hands on her hips to emphasise her annoyance. _Not like I need to be told, a blind man could tell._

'We did a… job. Bree's got the money, she's gonna give it to Mole, by the way. And uh, then I had to go pick up something from a guy I know.' He knew his answer wouldn't satisfy Max, and that she wasn't gonna let him drop it that easy, but hey, he could try, right? And he really didn't know how to say what he needed to say.

'You went to pick up _something_ from a _guy you know_? What _thing_ Alec? What _guy_?' She was frustrated by his evasive answers, but she was determined no to let it show. _Why doesn't he want to tell me? What was he doing that he can't tell me? Doesn't he trust me?_

'Uh… it was… he was, is…' he trailed off and she looked at him worriedly. She had never seen him this lost for words since… well, never actually. He always had an answer for everything. He was normally full of words. Normally, she was trying to shut him up. But he clearly wasn't normal right now.

'What, Alec? You can tell me, you know that. You can tell me anything. Or don't you trust me?' His eyes snapped up to meet hers at this.

'Not trust you? No, I just told everyone that _you_ should be the leader of TC cause I have absolutely no faith in you, whatsoever and I secretly want us all to be killed by White. Jesus Max, of course I trust you.'

'Ok then, so why the evasive answers? Why can't you tell me what you and Bree were doing tonight?' She heard him sigh in resignation, as he looked back down at the floor. After a minute, he looked back up at her.

'I was getting something from a scientist.' At her puzzled look, he elaborated. 'A Manticore scientist, I knew him back from the good ol' days. Same guy who made you your designer virus' he paused at her sharp intake of breath and then he slowly drew something from the inside pocket of his jacket. He held out his hand, a small rectangular box in it. Max looked up at him, waiting for confirmation. 'He's also the same guy who made this for you… the cure.'

Max stood rooted to the spot, staring at his hand. Minutes past, and finally Alec couldn't stand it any longer. 'Max? Say something, anything. God, hit me! Just stop standing there doing nothing.' She raised her eyes to his.

'This...' she cleared her throat and started again. 'This is the cure?' she asked softly, and Alec nodded. 'How… uh, how did you get it?'

'Uh, I managed to track down this guy – I knew him pretty well at Manticore, from Psy-ops, he was a pretty decent guy. Anyway, I managed to track him down about 3 weeks ago, just after that…. Night.' Max just continued to stare at him. She had so many questions racing through her head, but the one that forced its way out was 'But why?'

'Why what, Maxie?' Alec looked confused at her question. He thought it was pretty simple. _I love you._

'Why did you do this? It must have cost, well, a lot more then you make…' she trailed off again and thought about it carefully. 'All those nights, you left Crash early or didn't come at all because you were 'too tired' to hang out, you were getting money?' He nodded his head slowly. 'But, I always thought you were with some… some girl, or other.' He laughed at this, a low, harsh laugh.

'Now, why would I do that when you're supposed to be my girl, Maxie?' he asked softly. She looked at him, confused by his words once again.

'But, I mean, you have been… I mean, it's not like you'd be cheating on me, you have been… right?'

'Yeah, I know it wouldn't be cheating on you. I've just, let's say, taken a… sabbatical from that for a little while.' When he saw the shock cover her face, he added 'No big deal, I've got other things to keep me…' But he was cut off as Max pressed her lips against his. It took his brain a few seconds to switch gears, but once it had, he was kissing her back.

_Oh god, how can this feel so right? Why do I feel like I'm betraying him, by kissing him? Shouldn't I feel like I'm betraying Logan? Oh, shut up!_ She lost herself in the kiss, pulling him closer to her, one arm around his waist, the other around her neck, stroking his barcode. All of a sudden, the kiss changed as she became desperate, kissing him like the world was about to end. She clung to him, and he responded.

They broke apart after a minute, and stared at each other in stunned silence. As usual, Alec broke the silence. 'The cure?' was all he could manage to get out, holding out the hand that still held the small box. She took it, looked down at it in horror, and then she fled.

A/N: Ok, sorry for it's shortness, what can I say? Anyway, review! Please review! Next chapter's on its way, but I'm not gonna post until I get some reviews. (sorry about the bribery, but you know, I really want reviews)


	9. Chapter 9: Tragedy

Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own anything.

A/N: Ok, next chapter! Um… don't know what else to say. Hope you like it, and thanks for all the reviews!

Chapter 9: Tragedy

Logan sat at his computer in Sandeman's old house, typing away busily, when Max came into the doorway. She was so quiet, and he was so absorbed in his work, _as usual_, that he didn't hear her, but after a moment he sensed her and turned around. 'Hey you.' He said as he noticed how lost she looked; her eyes weren't focused on anything in particular. It had taken her two days to finally get up the courage to come here, she didn't know what was stopping her, she had been waiting for this moment for over a year. But when Alec had given her the cure that night, everything had stopped for her, and she had suddenly felt like her life was over, when really it should have been just beginning. She hadn't even tried to decipher these feelings, choosing instead to simply push them to the back of her mind, to be dealt with later. _But when is later? Eventually? Next week, next month, when? STOP! Ok, just talk to Logan, think about the rest later._

'Hey yourself.' She answered after a moment, still not looking him in the eye.

'So, what's up? I mean, it's gotta be pretty risky, leaving TC right now, _alone_.' Max didn't miss the emphasis on the last word, and very quickly became irritated that he thought she had come with someone, or more specifically, with Alec. _Although he would assume, considering he still thinks we're together. But as if I need Alec to baby sit me 24/7. Ok, stop! Get to the point! Just tell him about the cure._

'Yeah, well, if Alec can do it, so can I.' She stopped as she realised what she had said, and shock crossed her face so quickly that Logan didn't pick it up. _Must not think about Alec… and Alec's lips… snap out of it Max!_ 'Anyway,' she continued 'a couple of days ago, he, uh, he and Bree snuck out of TC, to, uh, pick up something. It was something… for me…' She didn't know how to continue. Logan nodded his head and turned back to his computer.

'Ok.' Was all he said, his back to her now. _Typical, I try to talk to him about something non-Eyes Only related, and he turns his back on me. Wow! Where did that come from? I knew I should've talked to OC before I did this. Why don't I ever listen to myself? God, still crazy! Still talking to myself!_

'He gave me the cure, Logan. He gave me the cure! He tracked down a scientist he knew back at Manticore, who happened to be the same guy who made me the virus, and he had a cure made for me. I had it tested at TC, it's the real deal. I already took it, yesterday, so it's had time to kick in.' He stared at her, disbelief covering his face, then joy. He jumped up, and she could hear his exoskeleton whirring. _Uh, I hate that thing! Ok, that was weird, why am I so annoyed by Logan all of a sudden?_ But she didn't have time to think it through, as she was wrenched out of her thoughts by Logan reaching for her face and pulling her close for a kiss. She stood there, unresponsive for a minute, until she snapped back to reality and shoved him away. _Ugh! As if he just did that! Wait… isn't this what I've been waiting for?_

'Logan!' she yelled at him. She knew it was a lie, but as far as Logan knew, she was with Alec, in a very happy relationship.

'Max, I thought… I mean, you and Alec, you made that up, didn't you? I know you did. He told me, the day you brought us home from TC, right before he left here, he told me the truth. That you'd made it up, to protect me.' As he said this, Max was suddenly overcome by the urge to punch his face. _Ok, this is so not how I imagined this happening. I thought this was what I wanted? What is _wrong_ with me?_

'So you just kissed me? What…?' But her rant was cut short by Logan's cell ringing. He picked it up, and she saw his surprise as he noticed the number.

'Alec?' he asked into the phone, sounding very annoyed. _Alec?_

'_Hey Logan, I'm guessing Max is there?'_ Alec's voice came through the phone.

'Yeah, she's here. What do you want, Alec?' He asked, irritation coating his voice at the interruption, and he tried to end the conversation.

'_Tell Max to be outside, on her bike, ready to go in 5 minutes. We've got trouble in Sector three. 5 minutes!'_ And with that, Alec hung up the phone. Logan closed his phone and looked up at Max.

'Alec's on his way, said he'd be here in 5 minutes. Looks like you've got a problem, in Sector three.' Max looked at him and then turned to walk outside.

5 minutes later Alec pulled up outside Sandeman's place, next to Max who was sitting on her Ninja, waiting for him. 'Hey, so a transgenic was spotted in Sector three. Krit and Bree, and Syl and Dalton have gone ahead. Let's go.' Alec quickly said, and then they both sped off towards Sector three.

When they entered Sector three it took them less then a minute to locate the transgenic; the police were a dead give away, and they were all migrating to one area. They sped towards their target. When they got there, they saw Bree and Krit fighting four sector cops, and on the other side of the street Syl and Dalton were dealing with the three cops surrounding the transgenic, an X5, by the look of him. Alec saw the car pull up first, and he sighed. Max turned to him, a questioning look on her face.

'Oh, for the love of… Maxie, look who just decided to crash the party.' Max turned to follow his gaze and saw White getting out of the car with his partner. She looked back at Alec, and he nodded before they sped off to the other end of the street. As they passed Syl and Dalton, Alec yelled 'Dalton! White's here.' They skidded to a stop in front of the car and jumped off their bikes. Max headed for White, while Alec quickly disabled Otto and knocked him unconscious. He went over to help Max, and even being a Familiar, White was quickly slumped on the ground next to his partner. Max and Alec grinned to each other, then hopped on their bikes and headed back down the streets.

Max and Alec came up alongside Syl and Dalton. The transgenic got on Syl's bike behind her, and Dalton hopped on behind Alec. That was when the shot rang out through the air, and everyone stopped. Five heads snapped around in unison in time to see Krit falling to the ground. They saw Bree turn, face covered in shock. They watched as she threw one last punch, knocking the last cop out, before she blurred towards Krit.

'Krit!' He looked up at Bree. 'Oh god, get up. Come on, it's ok. Come on, Jule will fix you up good when we get back to TC, come on, just get on the bike. It's gonna be ok.' She told him, trying to keep her voice normal as she led him over to her bike, and sat him on it. She hopped on in front of him and said 'Just hold on to me Krit, just don't let go. GO!' she yelled to the others and the three bikes sped off towards TC, Bree just behind them. As she took off, she gave one last kick and knocked out the cop who had fired the shot, then she picked up speed and followed the three bikes. 'Just hold on, Krit' she whispered.

The gates of TC opened and four bikes raced through. Three of them came to a stop as soon as they were a safe distance from the fence, but one kept going. Max and Alec jumped off their bikes, and Alec turned to Mole, who looked confused. 'This is Ash, take him to HQ, find him a place, show him the ropes. I'll be there shortly. Krit got shot. Dalton, Syl, can you guys take care of the bikes? I know you wanna check on Krit, Syl, but I gotta find Max and Bree.' Syl nodded and Alec raced off after Max, heading for their Medical Building.

He entered the Med building as saw Jule racing from the corridor into a room. He followed her in and found Max standing over Krit as Jule went to work. At first glance, he thought Bree wasn't in there, but as he scanned the room again, he saw her, huddled in the corner, head on her knees and he though; _she looks so small and helpless._ Then he remembered.

'_Calm down Bree, what's wrong?'_

'_They got him, Luke, they got James. I went to the bathroom, I was only gone a minute and they got him. They took him, I don't know where…'_

'_Who Bree? Who got him?'_

'_I don't know. Not Manticore. Oh god, what's gonna happen to him? It's my fault!'_

'_No, it's not, and nothing's gonna happen to him. We're gonna find him and get him back, and we're gonna do it soon. Before Shellie finds out.'_

'_What if we're too late?'_

He remembered that day with perfect clarity, he remembered her voice coming through the phone, so small and weak he was sure it wasn't Bree. And her question; _'What if we're too late?'_ He hadn't answered that, he hadn't even wanted to think about being a possibility. And then they had almost been too late, and Bree had blamed herself. It looked like history was repeating itself, or at least, that was how Bree saw it.

'Jule, how bad is it?' he heard Max ask, and he turned to look at Jule as she answered.

'Bullet went clean through, which is good, but it nicked an artery, which is not good. He's lost a lot of blood. Once I've closed this, he should be fine, but he's still losing blood in the meantime, and he might not have enough.'

'So give him blood.' Max said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. 'Give him my blood.' She said as she stuck out her arm. Jule looked at it briefly.

'He might need more then you can give.' She said, turning back to Krit, but she motioned to the X6 standing behind her. Jo started setting up for a transfusion, and walked over to Max, who sat in a chair next to the bed and held out her arm. Alec looked at Max and saw the sheer determination on her face, in her eyes. She wasn't about to loose another brother, and he wasn't going to let her, not without a fight.

'She'll give as much as you think is safe for her and then if he needs more, you can hook me up for a while.' Max looked up at this, and Alec said simply 'We look after our own, and we do whatever we can to keep everyone alive. Besides, I don't need all my blood, do? It'll come back quickly enough.' Then her turned and walked to Bree.

'Bree?' he said softly as he knelt down beside her. When she didn't respond, he lifted her head with his hands and saw blank eyes looking back at him. It was almost like she'd crawled somewhere inside herself, and was shutting everything out. 'Bree, it's not your fault. No one blames you. And when Krit wakes up, he'll tell you the same thing.' Still no response. 'Bree, listen to me. It's not your fault, not this time, not last time.' There, that got a response. She let out what sounded like a soft moan. 'He was fine then, and he'll be fine now.' To anyone else, he would've sounded like he was talking about the same person, but her and Bree knew he wasn't. He wrapped his arms around her, and for an hour, he just held her. Then he swapped places with Max.

When Syl, Dalton and Ash walked through the door, that was how they found them Max and Bree in the corner, Alec in a chair next to Krit's bed, needle in his arm, Jule still standing over Krit, sewing him up. Syl released a breath and Dalton let out a small, relieved laugh. Then he spotted Bree, and he almost raced over to her. She'd been his CO back at Manticore, and she'd always been so strong, and now to see her in the corner, huddled against Max, she looked so impossibly small. He walked over to them, and knelt down beside Max, and he gave her a small nod, and she transferred Bree into his arms, then she got up and walked to the bed.

'How is he, Jule?' she asked.

'I stopped the bleeding, and the blood you guys gave him will help heaps. He might be out for a day or so, but he'll be fine. Jo, you can take that out of Alec's arm now. He's gonna be asleep for a while, you might all want to consider going home and doing the same.' Alec and Max nodded, then Alec walked over to Bree.

'Hey, you hear that? Krit's gonna be fine, Doctor says so and everything. I told you it would be fine, didn't I? He just needs to rest, sleep for a while, then he'll be up and bouncing in no time. Speaking of bouncing, there's no way you're gonna be bouncing if you don't get some rest too. How about I take you back to your place huh? I might even cook for ya? What do you say?' He asked, and he started to pull her up gently when she surprised everyone by suddenly kicking out at him and sending him flying. If Max hadn't been standing right behind him, he would have ended up on top of Krit, but she caught him, or rather her body stopped his, which sent them both flying across the floor. Alec turned his head and looked down at Max, who was pinned underneath him, and both their faces were covered in confusion. 'What the…?' was all Alec could say, and he looked up at Dalton, who looked just as confused as he was. Then he shrugged, and turned to Bree as Max and Alec picked themselves up of the floor.

'Bree?' Dalton said hesitantly, stepping closer. Her hand shot out unexpectedly and grabbed his shirt, pulling him closer towards her.

'NO!' She yelled, and shoved him away, straight back into Alec. Then she put her head back on her knees and covered her head with her arms, and went perfectly still. _She's hiding from something, but what is it?_ Max thought, before she, and five others all turned their eyes to Jule, looking at her expectantly.

'Well, I think she's staying here tonight. It's ok, I'll watch her. Both of them, but from the looks of it, neither of them are going anywhere tonight. Now, go, get some sleep, all of you.' When no one moved she said louder 'Now, out! You can come back in the morning.' She glared at them, and they filed out. Dalton was the last to leave, as he threw one last worried glance at Bree, before Jule's stare had him scurrying out. The door shut behind him, and he wandered off towards his apartment. It worried him to see her like this, so weak and helpless. She had always seemed so strong at Manticore, so indestructible, so sure of everything, so… like Max, he realised. He remembered Jampony, and how strong and sure of herself Max had seemed when she first arrived, and how scared she'd been after they were shot at, and she had thrown herself at Alec. Maybe Manticore had made them too good at masking their emotions, at keeping them in. And now Bree's had finally caught up with her, and he didn't know how to help her, and that scared him, and he had no idea why.

A/N: Ok, so what'd you think? Good, bad?


	10. Ch10:Time for fighting, time for talking

Disclaimer: I own nothing!! Well, nothing Dark Angel related, except the DVDs, which technically belong to my sister, but you know.

A/N: Um, here's the next chapter. Sorry it took so long! I had a lot of projects that needed to be started/finished. I don't think I'll get this done before exams, cause they start in three days, but I'll have heaps of time once they're over. Thanks for waiting!

Chapter 10: Time for fighting, time for talking

Max stood in her office, trying not to think about how pale Krit had looked last night, lying in the bed, when Logan walked in. Max heard him, and knew it was him from the sound of his exoskeleton. But she didn't turn around to face him. _Go away, go away, go away, go away_, Max kept repeating to herself, hoping that he might actually leave without annoying her. No such luck.

'May, hey. Look, I think we need to talk about yesterday. I mean, you just show up and tell me you have the cure, and then you yell at me…'

'This is _not_ the time for this Logan' Max cut in, still not turning to him. 'There are more important things happening here then you and me.'

'Max! What is wrong with you? It was just a kiss. I thought you wanted…'

'You don't know what I want Logan. Like I bet right now, I bet you don't know that what I really want is for you turn around and _leave._ God, Logan, not everything is about you!' The last bit came out with a small sound of frustration. _AH! Why won't he just leave, get the message you stupid little idiot! Maybe just a punch… no Max, calm down. Ok, this is getting ridiculous! Aren't I supposed to be in love with Logan? And now every time I see him I have the urge to punch him. I think I need lots and LOTS of psychiatric attention. _

'I know, it's just that for the last _year_ we've been looking for this, waiting for this, and now we've finally got it and all of a sudden you're like _this_.' Max turned around at this, and he should have taken the look in her eyes as a strong warning, but he didn't.

'Like what, Logan? What do you want me to say? The cure doesn't change anything, I thought it would, but it doesn't. There's nothing here, hasn't been for a long time.' _I don't think there ever was, except for my longing for the _normal_ life I wanted. Ha! Normal, what is that? And why did I ever want that? Alec was right, normal is seriously overrated. _

'I love you Max' Logan pleaded and Max couldn't help but think how pathetic he sounded. She sighed.

'Yeah? Well, I don't love you. I might've once, but I don't anymore.'

'But Max…'

'No, Logan. No.'

'This isn't you talking. It's him. He never wanted us to work out, he's been trying to split us up from the start. You've spent so much time around him, you're starting to think like him. This isn't you talking.' If looks kill, at that moment, Logan would have been dead on the floor.

'Seriously? Did you just say that to me?' He didn't move. He had never seen this side of Max before, and it scared him just a little. 'I can't believe you just said that I can't think for myself. Alec might offer his opinions, even when it's not wanted, but at least he's never stupid enough to say that I can't think for myself, and at least he's not stupid enough to push me when I'm clearly_ not in the mood._' She said, venom on her words. 'I can't believe you said that – I can't even believe that you would _think_ that! You don't know me, you never have. Alec was right, you can never understand me, any of us.' She shook her head slightly as the truth sank in, but surprisingly, it didn't hurt as much as it should have. It was… something else. _What is it? What am I feeling? God, I'm so screwed up I don't even know what I'm feeling!_

'And what? He does?' Logan sneered as if this was the most ridiculous thing he'd ever heard. Max looked at him. _Better then anyone,_ she realised.

'Yes, he does. Better then you, better then anyone.' And it felt good to say it, to express it. _When did that happen? When did Alec become the one person I trust more then anyone? When did he become the person who knows me best?_ These thoughts scared her slightly, but they were all pushed aside when she heard Logan laughing. She turned to him, and when she realised that he was laughing at her, at Alec, she snapped. She raced forward, hand reaching around his neck.

'Max!' Alec's voice rang through the room, and she dropped Logan, who looked shocked at her outburst. Neither of them had noticed Alec standing there, although he'd come in around Logan telling her that it 'wasn't her talking.' He kept a calm face, although inside his thoughts were racing. _God, what an idiot, saying that to her. Did she mean that? And why the hell did she just attack Logan? This is a very new side of Max… I like it._ But he decided that now was not the time to analyse what he had just seen, so he told Max what he had come her to tell her. He could talk to her about this later.

'Max, Jo just radioed. Krit's awake.' She looked up at him, and when his words registered, her face lit up.

'Let's go. Did she mention Bree?' Max asked, walking towards him. The young X6 hadn't moved from the corner since she'd first sat there, 30 hours ago. They were all worried about her, Alec especially, and it showed at her question. His face fell even more, if it was possible, and his eyes glazed over, and she could see the raw pain there, unmasked as it rarely was. Her heart reached for him, she knew he loved Bree as much as she loved Krit and Syl.

'No change, she's still just sitting there. She hasn't said anything.' Max nodded, and as she walked past him, he looked back at Logan, who was still slumped on the ground, massaging his neck. 'What about him?' He was surprised when Max didn't even look back at him when she answered 'Get Mole to deal with it' and she walked off towards the Med building, Alec in tow.

The first thing Max and Alec saw when they walked into the room in Med building was the group of people surrounding the bed where Krit was, they noted, sitting up and looking much better. Then they simultaneously turned their heads to the corner where Bree was still huddled. Krit followed their gaze and said 'They told me she hasn't moved since last night, when she brought me here, and that she won't respond to anyone.' Alec nodded. 'Well, let's see if she'll respond to me, when she realises that I am alive.' And he started to get out of the bed, slowly. Jule came through the door just as he was swinging his legs over the edge of the bed, and everyone, except Krit, froze and looked at her. Krit continued, seeming to have either not noticed her entrance or, more likely, just didn't care.

'What do you think you're doing?' Jule demanded as Krit stood up. He turned his head towards her briefly, then shrugged and turned back and stood up off the bed.

'What does it look like? I feel fine, so I figured it's about time I made Bree better since apparently no one else has been successful so far.' And he hobbled over to the corner, no one else moving, just watching him, and when he got there he slowly lowered himself down so he was eye level to her, once he had lifted her head off her knees. 'Bree? Bree, it's me, Krit' he said softly, and this finally seemed to get her attention as her eyes suddenly came alive. She flung her arms around his neck. 'It's ok Bree, I'm fine' he said softly, but she still clung to him. At her response Alec release a breath he hadn't known he was holding. _She ok,_ was all he thought.

'My fault… always my fault' was all she managed as she had started to cry. At that, Alec rushed over and reached out to stroke her hair. _Well, this isn't exactly what I was hoping for, but I'll take it, at least it's a reaction. At least she's not sitting there looking blank any more._

'Bree, it was never your fault. James was fine, remember, he still is. But there was nothing you could have done, it may have been a different time, different place, but they would have got him eventually. And we got him back, just like we got Krit back. Bree, look at me.' When she continued to look at the ground, he said more forcefully 'Bree, look at me.' She finally lifted her head up and her eyes met his. _She looks so alone and scared. This isn't right, she's not supposed to look like this. What is with all the women in my life falling apart? They're doing this on purpose, I swear. Purposefully breaking down around me, they're just ganging up on me to make my life just that much harder._ He looked at Bree and thought, _ok, maybe just Max, Bree would never do that to me… would she? No, she wouldn't,_ before he continued 'Bree, you will not blame yourself. Promise me, promise Krit. You won't blame yourself.' She nodded weakly, but he shook his head. 'Say it Bree, promise me.'

'I promise, Alec. I won't blame myself. It just all came rushing back.' She whispered and he nodded. He knew the feeling. The same thing had happened to him… _and all it took for me was a doorbell, not seeing someone fall to ground bleeding. I swear if Manticore wasn't already gone, I would go back there and blow it up all over again._

'Well, now that she's coherent again, will you GET BACK IN YOU BED AND STAY THERE!' Jule's voice broke through the silence, making them all jump. Bree smiled and said 'sorry, my fault. Thanks Krit, I'm glad you're all right. Alec, I'm really sorry for kicking you yesterday.' He laughed.

'No problem. It seems to be my main reason for living – so beautiful transgenic women can kick my ass – or try to.' He said, and everyone laughed. Krit transferred Bree into Alec's arms, and then stood up and moved back to his bed. Alec hugged Bree for a minute and then turned to Dalton.

'Hey Dalton, will you walk Bree back to her apartment? Maybe help her get some dinner ready?' he asked the young X6. When Bree looked at him questioningly, he said 'I'll meet you for dinner in half an hour, ok? I just have some business to deal with Max.' _Ok, so that's only partly true, but Bree and Dalton don't need to know that… or Bree would kick my ass if she knew I was playing matchmaker._ He had seen the sparks between them but they were both very stubborn. Dalton was very much like himself, and Bree was like… _Max. Huh. That's weird; I never picked up on that before. Oh, she will so not be spending time alone with Max; she doesn't need to pick up any ideas._ Before he could continue with his thoughts, the object of his distraction came up to him, looking strangely at him.

'We have business to discuss before dinner?' She asked him, confused.

'Yeah, but not here, or HQ. Come on; let's go back to our place.' And he took her hand and dragged out of the room, ignoring her questions, leaving the remaining occupants of the room all grinning at each other.

Alec pulled Max through the door of their apartment, kicking the door shut behind him. He swung her around in front of him and studied her; she looked even more confused. He loved it when she looked confused, with her… _no; keep on track here, man. You can do this later… you _will_ do this later._

'Ok Max, what was that about?' He asked her, and she continued looking at him, her confusion clearly growing each time he spoke, so he expanded. 'What the hell went on in your office?' Comprehension replaced confusion, followed quickly shame before she lowered her head. 'No no no, no more running. No running away from me Maxie.' She looked up at him.

'That won't ever happen.' She whispered it so low he almost thought he imagined it, but the look in her eyes, that sincere look, told him he hadn't. It scared him to know it, and to realise how much he had needed to hear those words from her. 'I don't know what happened' she said, truthfully, and then continued 'He was going on about the cure, and I tried to explain to him that it didn't change anything…' Alec cut her off.

'I know, he tried to tell you that it wasn't you talking. Ha, still can't believe he said that. But what made you snap? It's not like you, Max.'

'I don't know. Or… when he started laughing at our relationship, I felt like he was laughing at me, at you, at all of us. The thought of him laughing at us, while Krit was lying in a bed somewhere, in a coma, it made him as bad as all the people out there, except worse, because I thought he was on our side, I thought he understood. I thought I loved him, thought he loved me, and there he was laughing at me, at you…' she trailed off and Alec pulled her close, and he held her. She lent into his warmth and closed her eyes, breathing in his scent. _Why does he smell so good, so nice? I love his smell. He smells so… Alec-like. Well, he would, wouldn't he Max?_ It was at times like this that Max's defences slipped down so low, when he was so out of character. _He's always surprising me when he's so nice, but you'd think I would start to get used to it, but I don't. Maybe that's why I love him? Oh my god, I love him._

'Maxie…' Alec began after a minute, pulling her out of her thoughts. But he was cut off by her saying 'I don't want to hear an "_I told you so"_ right now Alec.'

'Wasn't going to. What I was going to say, before you so rudely interrupted me…' she glanced up sharply at this, and he smiled at her, and she relaxed again as he continued 'as I was saying, maybe you two never really knew each other. You thought you did, and you pretended you did, because it was easier then admitting the truth, and neither of you wanted to let go. You wanted a nice, safe, normal boyfriend and Logan… well; you are a fascinating woman Max Guevara.' He kissed the top of her forehead and she looked up at him. Their eyes locked and they stayed like that for a minute before they leant towards each other.

The kiss started off gentle, their lips meeting hesitantly. But it quickly heated up, as they both poured themselves into it. Their bodies moulded together of their own accord, and they were a perfect fit. Alec plunged a hand into Max's hair, and she tilted her head back into it, inviting him to deepen the kiss, which he started to do when…

'Max!' At the sound of Logan's voice Max instinctively pushed Alec away from her and whipped her head around to see a stunned Logan standing in the doorway. He headed towards them, clearly outraged. 'What's going on her? I thought you said there was nothing between the two of you, Alec? What did you do, force yourself on her?' This time both transgenics jumped at him. When he was on his knees, arms behind his back, Alec said in a low, cold voice 'I would NEVER force myself on a woman, especially Max.'

'And he wouldn't have to.' Both men turned to look at Max when she said this, and they both saw the truth there. Logan hung his head in defeat and Max said 'I think you should probably leave Logan.' _And don't come back,_ she silently added. He nodded and stood to walk out. He stopped at the door, but kept his back to them as he whispered softly 'Just be happy'. It was so low that even with their transgenic hearing, they barely heard it. And with that, Logan Cale walked out of their lives.

'Did you mean it?' Alec asked Max's back, and she slowly turned to face him. She swallowed. _How am I supposed to answer that? Yes, Alec, I want to jump you bones, I want to have wild sex with you? Or how about, yes Alec, I'm madly in love with you?_

'I…' but she didn't have a chance to say anything more as she was interrupted by Alec's cell ringing. He pulled it out without taking his eyes off Max.

'Alec.' He answered shortly, then his expression softened. 'Yeah yeah. Sorry mum. We'll be there in five minutes.' He hung up and hen he noticed Max's confused look was back he said 'that was Bree. She's making dinner and we're late, apparently.' Max smiled.

'Well, we can't keep hungry transgenics waiting, can we? Let's go.' But they both knew this wasn't over, far from it.

A/N: Yes, no? What did you think? Please let me know! I love all reviews! And I love anyone who reads this story, even if you don't review!


	11. Chapter11:Dinner served with Revelations

Disclaimer: Nup, still don't own it

A/N: Ok, sorry for the wait! Here it is, the long awaited next chapter. The story's almost over, just a few more chapters to go, as long as my imagination doesn't get carried away.

Chapter 11: Dinner served with Revelations

The smell of tomato and onion hit them as they reached the floor of the building which held Bree's _apartment_. The second thing to hit them was the sound of laughter and various voices. It became clear, as they neared the apartment, that Syl, Ash, Joshua and Dalton were inside, as well as Bree. They walked in without knocking and saw everyone was already seated around a table. They also saw Mole there, minus his usual cigar, and couldn't figure out which one surprised them more. Bree was at the head of the table, pouring sauce over plates of spaghetti as they pulled out two empty chairs.

'Thought you'd keep us all waiting, did ya? Typical Alec – thinks the world waits only for him.' Bree said laughing and everyone joined in. Alec put a hand over his heart, put a hurt look on his face and said 'Bree, your words, like a knife to my heart.'

'Yeah, I'm sure, cause you sound oh so sincere.' There was a knock on the door, and everyone turned to look, wondering who it could be. That was when Max noticed that there were still two empty chairs at the other end of the table. 'Come in' Bree called as she finished with the sauce. To Max's surprise Biggs and Cece walked in. She hadn't seen them much since the whole thing with Jam Pony, and was glad to see them, but very confused. Bree noted the confused looks and shrugged, saying 'I know about Biggs from Alec, he constantly talked about their mission together, while we were on ours, and then I met him and Cece the other day at Med, and we started talking, so…'

She was interrupted as the door opened once again, this time revealing Jo, who walked in. 'Oh, hey Jo. There's dinner for all three of you on the counter, in the containers. Jo's my roommate.' She announced to the room at large. 'And since she and Vash are gonna be in Med all night and Krit's still stuck in there, I made them all dinner. Tell you what though, I think I ran out of food tonight, it's a good thing I brought all this stuff with me from my old place, it's a good thing I had stock piled pasta.' She laughed, as she sat down at the end of the table. Jo came back out of the kitchen then, carrying three containers of pasta and three bottles of water. She waved to them, and they waved back, Bree calling 'See ya Jo.'

Once everyone was settled in at the table, Bree said 'tuck in' and none of them needed to be told twice.

Bree sat at the head of the table, watching her guests, no her family, as they bantered with each other. She had known some for years, others only two days, but it felt safe, it felt like home, which was a feeling she had never really known before. She smiled to herself.

'Care to share your secret with the class, Bree?' Alec voice broke into her thoughts and she looked at him, and saw he was grinning cheekily at her, that mischievous look in his eyes, like he knew exactly what she was thinking. _And he probably does, he knows me better then anyone. What would I do without him?_

'Never you mind. I think I'm gonna get started on these dishes' she said, standing up and starting to stack the dishes simultaneously. Max, Syl and Dalton all stood up to help, but she waved them back down with her hand. 'No no no, you're my guests, sit, relax. Alec can help me' she added, her own grin forming as his slid from his face, but he stood up obediently and started stacking dishes.

'Now how come it takes me three times as long to get him to do something like fold the towels, but he jumps up to help you?' Max inquired her voice full of laughter.

'He knows what'll happen to him if he says no to me. He learnt that lesson a long time ago, didn't you Alec?' Bree asked, putting false innocence into her voice and batting her eyelashes at him before she turned and carried the dishes into the kitchen. Alec glared at her back and said 'Or maybe I just like annoying you, Maxie.'

'Oh, I definitely believe that.' Biggs said, and the table broke out in laughter again. Alec followed Bree into the small kitchen with the remaining dishes and they went to work, falling into the all too familiar routine with an easy rhythm. They were silent for a minute until Alec noticed Bree was studying him.

'What?' he asked, but she continued to study him. _How well I know that face,_ she thought,_ the subtle differences between the real Alec and Manticore's 494. I can read him, I can get an answer from him if I want, no matter how determined he is not to give me one. But how can I get the answer to this particular question? Subtle or direct? That's always the million dollar question with Alec. People always try subtle, but it rarely works with him, he's too smart. I think situation calls for direct, definitely direct._

'How long?' she asked. He looked down at her, puzzled.

'How long what?'

'How long have you been in love with Max?' she asked, lowering her voice to a whisper. She saw his eyes widen with surprise, before his well used Manticore mask slipped into place. _If there's one thing I truly hate in this world, it's that bloody Manticore mask! I would pay a million bucks to _anyone_ if I never had to see someone use that stupid mask! Makes everything ten times as hard. But don't worry Alec; I'm not going to give up that easy._

'I don't know what you're talking about.' He said, trying, and failing, to sound innocent.

'Oh don't pull that crap with me, you never could play the innocent well, it's just not in you nature. No evading the truth with me, Alec, you know it won't work. Tell me, how long.' She held his gaze, unwavering in her determination, daring him to deny it again. He gave the softest of sighs, a sign of defeat.

'Honestly? I don't know. I think I realised it, well, accepted it, about a month ago. But it started long before that. I just ignored it, just like they taught us to. Anyway, what's it to you pipsqueak?' he asked, nudging her slightly with his elbow, using his usual manner of avoiding serious conversations. She simply raised an eyebrow at him.

'Pipsqueak? And I was simply curious. Wonder if Max has accepted it yet, although she is even more stubborn then you, if that's possible.'

'Accepted what Bree?'

'That she's in love with you too.' When he started to rebuke that, she cut him off saying 'I'm a woman, we can tell these things about each other. Don't argue with me, it will get you absolutely no where.' Alec couldn't think of anything to say to this, and he just stared at her. _When did she grow up? I mean, she was mature beyond her years when I first met her, but this… this is why I love her. And I guess this why I could never say no to her. This is why I need to protect her, she's my sister. This is what Max is always going on about when she talks about her family. Bree's my family._ It had hit him a few days ago, when she'd first arrived in TC, and he'd finally understood what Max had been talking about, what she meant by her brothers and sisters. _Bree's my family, and family look out for each other. Well, if she's looking out for me, I can return the favour, so…_

'What about you and Dalton, huh? I noticed the puppy-dog eyes he was giving you all through dinner, and you didn't seem to mind them. In fact, if you asked me, you seemed to be enjoying it…' he trailed off and she hit him over the head. 'OW!' he said loudly.

'What's going on in there you two? Do you need supervision?' Max's voice came sailing through the door.

''No, I just figured out why you're always hitting Alec over the head. It's very good for shutting him up.' Bree replied, and they heard Max laugh. Then they heard someone knocking on the door, and Bree went to answer it. She opened the door and found herself face to face with Original Cindy.

'Luke told me my girl was here?' Cindy said, as Bree stepped aside to let her in.

'Cindy? What are you doing her?' Max asked as she ran over to hug her best friend.

'Uh, hi Cindy. Sorry, I forgot you were coming tonight.' Joshua's voice said sheepishly from behind them. Max turned to him, surprised.

'You organised this?' She asked. He nodded his head as Cindy said 'He told me my girl needed a good talkin to and I'm here to deliver. Hey Biggs, Cece. Mole, Dalton and, uh, I don't know you two.' Cindy said, looking at Syl and Ash.

'Oh, sorry, this is Syl, fellow '09er and this is Ash, we picked him up yesterday.' Max explained.

'Well, it's nice to meet you. Where's ya boy? I know he gotta be around here somewhere…'

'Hey Cindy.' Alec's voice came through the door of the kitchen. 'Doing the dishes, although _somebody_ is supposed to be in here helping me.' He reminded, and Bree sighed as she walked back in to help.

'It's not enough I cooked for you, is it? I think Manticore babied you too much.' They heard her saying, and heard Alec's laugh in return.

'Well, on that note, we should get going.' Biggs said, as he and Cece stood up to leave. 'Thanks for dinner, Bree, it was great.' He called to her, not daring to go into the kitchen.

'No problem, see you later. ALEC!' they heard yell before the kitchen went silent. Biggs and Cece left, followed shortly by Joshua and Mole, who also called out their thanks to Bree.

'Boo, looks like Alec gonna be a while, so how bout me and you go chill at your place, talk?' Cindy said.

'Sounds great. What're you up to tonight Syl?' she asked her sister.

'Nothing. Krit's still in Med, so I'm all alone.' She answered, putting on a southern accent to sound like a damsel in distress.

'Not anymore, you're coming with us. Gem find you a place to stay, Ash?' she asked the X5.

'Yeah, with another X5, Ky. Actually, I'm supposed to be helping him with something, so I should go. Bye Alec, thanks Bree' he called, and he left. Dalton stood up.

'I'm gonna go, too. Bye Alec, Bree.' He called and he raced out of there at full speed. The three women looked at each other and laughed.

'Well, let's go.' Syl said. Max walked over to the kitchen, stuck her head in and noticed the way Bree and Alec stood, leaning close as if conspiring to do something. She cleared her throat, and Alec visibly jumped, while Bree simply grinned.

'We're gonna take off too, head back to our place for some girly time.' Max said.

'Does that mean I can't come home tonight?' Alec asked with a grin.

'No, it just means that when you decide to come home, you need to make your presence known, don't just barge into the place like you normally do.' Max said, glaring at him. She turned to Bree. 'Thanks for dinner, it was great.'

'Any time. Have a good time' she said, before Max and the others left.

The three women walked through the door into Max and Alec's apartment and two made noises of surprise. There was a large dent in the wall, and a broken table next to the door.

'Uh, Max, what happened in here?' Syl asked. Max paused, glanced briefly at the table and the wall, as she shrugged out of her jacket, and turned to face her sister and Cindy.

'Oh, uh, Logan needed a little sense knocked into him, that's all.' She said as if this explained everything. She walked into the kitchen, throwing her jacket onto the bench as she walked towards the fridge, then took three bottles of beer out of the fridge and came back out to find Cindy filling Syl in on the whole Logan situation.

'…and Manticore put the virus in her so she couldn't touch him, and then she told Logan that Alec was her new boy and I don't really know what happened here.' Cindy finished up, and they both turned expectantly at Max.

'What? Fine, Alec found the cure, so I didn't kill Logan when he kissed me. But I told him it was over, then he came to see me about it earlier and I told him it was over. Then he laughed at me and Alec and I snapped, and Alec had to stop me from hurting him and that's what we had to _discuss_ earlier, cause he was confused. Then, well, one thing led to another and we kissed, and Logan walked in and saw us, and he jumped to conclusions, as per usual, and said something about Alec forcing himself on me and we both jumped on him. Then we told him to leave, no biggie.' She added, seeing their faces.

'No biggie? You been waiting for this cure for a year, now you got it, but you're kissing _hot boy_ instead and you say _no biggie?_' Cindy asked, hand on hips.

'Yeah, so what?' Max said shrugging her shoulders.

'Well, it sounds like everyone was expecting you to be kissing Logan, not Alec. Max, are you in love with Alec?' Syl asked, deciding not to beat around the bush with this one. _Maxie always was good at ignoring her emotions, denying her feelings. Well, if she's gonna hide, then I'm gonna go seek._

'No!' Max answered quickly. Too quickly, and she mentally slapped her forehead.

'Huh, you answered that pretty quickly, didn't she Cindy?' Syl asked, a sly smile forming on her lips.

'Yeah, too quickly for my liking.' Cindy replied, a similar smile on her face. Max groaned. Sometimes it was simply better to admit defeat.

'Fine, I love him. There, happy? I said it!' Max said loudly, a grumpy, yet defeated look on her face.

Syl and Cindy looked at each other and burst out laughing. 'I knew it' was all Cindy could say.

'Yeah, I picked up on it about… _two_ seconds after seeing them together.' Syl said, once she had stopped laughing.

'God, am I that obvious?' Max asked. This only brought on more laughter.

'Honey, you both that obvious.' Cindy informed her.

'Both? What are you talking about?' Max asked, confused.

'Duh! Alec's in love with you too, boo. Has been for a while now, though I don't think he knew it. Why you think he stuck around you all this time? Certainly ain't cause of the royal treatment you was giving him, that's for sure.' Cindy said, shaking her head in a pitying way, trying not to laugh again.

'That doesn't mean he's in love with me, though. Just that he's… I don't know, a little strange.' Max said defensively.

'Max, I think all of TC, except you, knows that he's in love with you. It's written all over his face, girl. All over yours, too.' Syl told her, as she crossed her arms, and looked at her with a very smug look on her face.

' Yeah, well, you and Ash looked pretty cosy tonight.' Max said, changing the subject, and laughing when the smug look faded from Syl's face. Cindy and Syl looked at each other, and decided to let her get away with it.

'Yeah, well, I like Ash. He's nice, smart, oh and the fact that he looks perfect doesn't hurt either. There, now, that wasn't so hard for me to admit, was it?' Syl said to Max, who simply looked at her, lost in her own thoughts. _Could Alec really be in love with me? Is that why he's stuck around all this time?_ A million questions were racing through her mind, but one thought stood out. _When Alec gets home, we need to talk._

Alec turned a corner and almost walked straight into Biggs, who held out an arm to stop him.

'Hey, man. What's up?' Biggs said, and Alec's eyes flicked up to look at him, confused.

'What? What are you doing here?' Alec asked puzzled, and looked around. _Hang on, this isn't my apartment block, is it? What the…? How did I end up over here? I left Bree's and… then what? Huh, interesting._

'Uh, I live here. What are you doing here, man? You live that way, remember?' Biggs said, pointing back the way Alec had come from. 'What happened? You fight with Max again?'

'Max?' Alec repeated, look at Biggs. That seemed to snap him out of it. 'No, no, I was talking to Bree. She said something…' he trailed off, once again lost in thought. Biggs stared at him for a minute and then prompted him.

'She said something about…?' About you? About Max?' Alec nodded to both, and Biggs smiled. 'What, did she point out how you two are clearly in love with each other? You know, you love her, she loves _you_.' Again, Alec nodded to both, then his head snapped up as the last part registered. He glared at Biggs.

'What? Not you too, man. Did everyone find some weed and start smoking it without me or something? Or did you all just simultaneously walk headfirst into a brick wall?'

'Ha ha, you're so funny man. Alec, we're just stating the facts, they're right there in front of us every day. It was actually very amusing at first, although I think it's been long enough man. Why do you think Joshua asked Cindy to come tonight?' Biggs asked, then he gave him a pat on the shoulder and walked away laughing at the look on his face.

_Great, first Bree, now Biggs. All of TC is going mad. Max, in love with _me?_ That's insane, she's supposed to be in love with Logan… although, she did beat on him today, twice, and she keeps kissing me. Why isn't she with Logan? Cause she doesn't love him any more, that's obvious. But that doesn't mean that she loves me. Maybe she's in heat, that would explain the kissing. But then she should have tried to jump me, and every other guy in TC, and all the guys would be all over her. Ah, none of this makes any sense, I've got to talk to Max, set this straight. Yeah we need to talk, and we need to talk now._ With that decided he turned around and walked off in the direction he had come from, heading for his apartment. The look on his face told people he meant business, and no one tried to stop him. He walked through the door of their apartment and said 'Max, we need to talk. Now.'

A/N: Ok, there ya go! Hope you all enjoyed it, and I hope you think it was worth the wait. I promise the next wait will be much shorter. I've finally figured out how to finish the next chapter, now I just gotta actually write it. And I have two days at home ahead of me, so it should be easy. And as always, please review! If you've got any tips, please tell me! They're always welcome!


	12. Chapter 12: Truths

Disclaimer: for the last time, I own nothing!

A/N: uh, here ya go! Next chapter! This chapter and the next one were originally one chapter, but I split them, and added the whole last bit. I hope you like it! One more chapter, and the epilogue. I promise! And they're both almost done, so it should all be up in the next day or two. Oh, and there's a bit of language, nothing major, but yeah, just a heads up.

Chapter 12: Truths

The door swung open and three heads whipped around to see Alec standing in the doorway, an unreadable look on his face. 'Max, we need to talk. Now.'

Cindy and Syl took this as their cue, and stood up simultaneously. 'I think that's our cue to leave.' Syl said.

'Yeah, hey can I crash with you tonight? Don't want to be trekking through no sewers tonight.' Cindy asked, looking at Syl with a knowing look, giving her a wink before she looked down at her feet and wrinkling her nose at the thought of the sewers. Syl laughed as she linked her arm through Cindy's and headed towards the door.

'Yeah, that's fine. Krit doesn't need his bed tonight, you can have his room. See ya later guys, have fun.' She whispered the last bit to Max as she walked past her, and sent her a wink before the two women left the room, laughing and whispering in a very conspiratorial way, closing the door behind them, leaving Alec and Max alone, facing each other, neither saying anything.

'So, what do you need to talk about Alec?' Max asked, breaking the silence after an uncomfortably long minute of silence.

'We need to talk about us, about why you keep kissing me, then running away from me, what you said earlier… that I wouldn't need to force you.' He practically whispered the last bit. 'Did you mean that?' Max swallowed. She had been prepared to force his feelings out of him, but here he was doing that exact thing to her. But what was she supposed to say? She stood there, looking at him for a minute, then let her gaze drift to a spot on the wall above his head before she finally answered him.

'Yeah, I meant it.' She said, unable to look him in the eye.

'What about the kisses Max? Cause one you could have explained away, but three? I just, I'm a little confused here Max. What's going on?'

'I just… It's… what about you? I didn't see you pushing me off you.' _That's the way, when in doubt, turn the tables Max._

'Is that what you wanted? You wanted me to push you away? Cause that's never gonna happen Max. I'm not gonna push you away, and I'm not letting you push me away, ever.' He told her and she shook her head.

'I told you, I'm not gonna push you away either. That's the last thing I want, Alec. I need you in my life. But I also… _want_ you there. Alec, I…' she looked up at him. She couldn't say the words yet, not to him. She wasn't _quite_ ready to make that plunge, not without a safety rope at least, or something to reassure her she wasn't just going to plummet to her death. _Oh, lovely image, just what I need to be thinking about right now. Focus Max!_

'I want you too Max, in every sense of the word that exists.' He paused and she looked up at him. 'And I need you too, I need you so badly it scares me sometimes.'

'Alec, what does all that mean? What happens now?' Max looked up at him, face full of vulnerability.

'Honestly? I don't know.'

'Don't know much, do you?' Max joked, trying to lighten the mood. And it worked, she noted as Alec's lips curved up into a smile.

'It's still more then you know, that's for sure.' He responded his voice just as light as hers had been.

'Tell me then, oh great one, something that I don't know.' In the five seconds of silence that followed, both had furious battles with themselves as to whether or not they should say what they really wanted to say, neither wanting to be the first and both fearing rejection. In the end, Alec lost his war first.

'I love you Max. I never though I'd be able to say those words again, and truly mean them, after Rachel. But I realised recently that I never truly knew what love was before now. Rachel was… Rachel was my first love, and I'll never forget it, but you… you're my true love. I love you Maxie.' He said again, pulling her in for a kiss.

There was no gentleness this time, it was all passion. They both poured themselves into it. Max pressed herself into him, fitting her body to his, but it still wasn't enough, with the barriers of clothes. So she wrapped an arm around his waist, the other snaking up around his neck, and she pulled him closer still. He responded immediately, deepening the kiss further then Max had thought was possible.

But then Alec stopped the kiss as suddenly as he had started it. He held her at arms length, his eyes searching her face. It was flushed; her eyes wide and full of need, want, confusion and _something else_. Her lips were slightly parted and bruised slightly from the kiss. She looked vulnerable, as vulnerable as he felt at that moment. He needed to know what that something else in her eyes was.

'Alec?' Max's voice was hesitant. It was the first time Alec had heard her sound so uncertain of herself, and it calmed him down a bit to know that he wasn't alone in that department.

'We can't… I need to know where you stand Max, where I stand with you. I can't be a rebound; I won't be used like that. There can't be any secrets between us.' He said to her.

'I'm not using you, Alec. I never was. I thought I was, when I lied to Logan. But I finally realised that I told him that because somewhere, deep down, part of me wanted it to be true. I pushed it aside, refused to listen to what my heart was telling me, went with my head instead. But I can't push my feelings aside forever, I've done that for so long it became second nature to me, but I realised that I don't want to any more.' She looked down at the floor, unsure how to continue.

'What do you want, Max?' Alec couldn't help the sound of frustration that slipped out of his mouth. He wasn't frustrated with her, it was more the situation. And the fact that Manticore had never trained them to have emotions, to talk about their emotions, instead of just ignoring them and pretending they didn't exist. Good ol' Manticore, screwing up his life, once again. _Yippee! _

'I want you, Alec. I…' _Oh, for god's _sake_ Max! Get a _grip_! He's already said it, come on! You feel it, you know he feels it, just tell him! He wants to hear it, he deserves to hear it. Grow up!_ 'I love you Alec.' She said finally, looking up to meet his eyes, to let him see the truth there. 'I've loved you for a long time, I was just scared of what I was feeling that I pushed it away, ignored it, or turned it into anger, because that was easier to deal with. And I guess I always took that anger out on you. I was trying to run from it, I'm still scared Alec, but I'm sick of running. No more running, Alec.'

'No more running Maxie, from either of us.' He agreed with her. 'Now, come here.' He demanded, pulling her into his arms. He brushed his lips against hers softly, testing, but she pressed her lips hard against his, her body arched towards his of its own accord, and she pushed his lips open with her tongue.

Alec pushed against her so she was forced to back up, until she felt the wall at her back. She felt for the bottom of his shirt, and they broke apart unwillingly as she drew it over his head. She took a moment to admire him, and couldn't help thinking, _this is all mine, and it always will be._ She smiled, and she reached up to lay her hands on his chest. She let them roam over it, testing, remembering, before she looked up at him, a mischievous look in her eyes. She kissed him and then suddenly shoved him through the doorway, into the bedroom. She pulled off both her tops in one swift movement as she walked towards him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning up to kiss him, as he pulled her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist, and he spun her around in his arms. As he kissed her, he lowered her onto the bed, before lowering himself so he was above her, propped up on his elbows, looking down into her eyes, and they took each other.

They lay in each others arms, content. Max looked up at him, and smiled. He smiled back, and they just looked at each other for a while. Then Alec broke the silence, once again.

'Max, I meant everything I said earlier.' Alec told her.

'I know, I meant everything too.' Max said, looking a bit puzzled.

'No, I didn't mean that. I meant about us not having any secrets from each other. I want to start this thing off the right way, no secrets between us. Otherwise, it won't last. And I want this to last.'

'I know, and I think you're right. There shouldn't be any secrets between us.' Max agreed, and she looked up at him.

'I think it's time I told you why I refused to be CO.' Surprise covered her face now, but she simply nodded her head. He looked up at the ceiling, not sure how to start, and it was silent for a few minutes before he began.

'Back at Manticore, I was CO of my unit for almost as long as I could remember. It had just always been that way. When time came for them to start sending us on missions, I had pretty much the largest unit.' Max looked up at this, once more confused. 'My unit had the least amount of casualties during training, and none of them got sent to Psy-Ops, with the exception of me just after you escaped. I looked out for them, and my SIC was great. X5-556. She was an excellent soldier, we got along great and she _never_ left a man, or woman, behind. No matter what the situation was, she could always get everyone home safely, something no one else could do. She always thought of everything, never missed a single step.' When he paused, Max looked up at him again. She could tell he was lost in his memories, and by his eyes, she could see that they weren't happy ones. After a minute or so of silence, Max spoke.

'What happened Alec? You know you can tell me.' She said it so softly that at first, when Alec didn't respond, she thought he hadn't heard her at all. She was about to say something when he opened his mouth, although no sound came out at first. Finally he found his voice.

'When we were about 16, 17, our unit was sent on a mission, all of us together. It wasn't unusual for them to do that when we still fairly young, but at that stage, it had been about a year since an entire unit had been deployed together, and for them to send our unit, which was still the largest, was very unusual. We all knew it had to be something major for them to send all of us. Anyway, turned out this guy, one of the major backers of Manitcore, was starting to ask questions, you know, what were they doing at Manticore, where was it located, stuff like that. So this guy was a major figure head in Washington, so a simple assassination wouldn't be that easy, but he was apparently getting worried, and so half our unit was being sent in as extra bodyguards that he had hired. The other half was meant to make friends, you know, play nice and get close to him. Most of our guys, all but me and this other guy, were put on as the bodyguards, while the girls and us two guys were meant to go play nice. And it might sound weird, you know, with us only being 16, but this guy, well he liked his _friends_ young.' He felt Max shudder as he said this, and he pulled her closer, and held her for a minute before he continued.

'Anyway, everything went fine for a few weeks, the guys went in as the bodyguards, and a few of us managed to get close to him, including me and 556, or Miranda as she was called for this particular mission. Anyway, a few weeks into the mission, he invited four of us over for dinner in his mansion, me and three girls, including Miranda. But of course, unknown to him, we also had another 6 guys on the inside, not that he suspected anything about us, or his new guards. He wasn't the brightest guy. The evening started out pretty well, we had dinner, and we all talked. Then, I don't know what happened. We were having drinks, and he asked Miranda if she wanted to walk with him, look at his library, cause she was in to books, and she agreed. I watched her go, and even though I knew she could handle herself against this one guys if she needed to, I had this bad feeling in my gut. I knew something was wrong, but I couldn't just get up and follow them. I thought it would be fine, cause one of his guards, meaning one of our guys, would go with them, but he dismissed them, and they went off together. About ten minutes later, when they didn't come back, I couldn't wait any longer, so I got up, and I went out the way they had. I walked down the hall for a bit, avoiding the other guards and the maids, and when I got to the library, it was empty. I kept going, and when I got the end of the corridor, and saw no one, I was about to go back when I heard a noise in the room at the end of the hall. I walked up to it, and I opened the door slightly, and I saw…' he trailed off again, and when Max looked up she saw he had tears forming in his eyes, and she had to stifle a gasp. She had only seen him cry once, when he had been talking to Rachel. She knew that whatever was coming wasn't good.

'Alec? It's ok, just tell me. Sometimes it's better to tell someone, and I can be a very good listener.' She said softly, and she felt him hold her tighter to her, as if he never wanted to let her go.

'Miranda was lying on the bed, hardly moving, and he was kneeling over her. I couldn't figure out why she wasn't doing anything, then I saw her eyes, and they were open, but they weren't moving, and then I saw the syringe lying on the floor next to the bed. He drugged her, and as I stood there he started to remove her dress. It was like I was frozen, I couldn't do anything. I was shocked at what was going on, and part of me wanted to go in there and rip this guy to shreds, but there was this tiny part in my mind, the part that made me hesitate, that said _what about Manticore? They haven't authorised a kill._ While I stood there, I didn't notice that Miranda's eyes had drifted in my direction, and she let out a small noise when she saw me, and I because I wasn't paying attention, he registered her reaction before I did, and I didn't move quick enough, and he saw me standing there, and before I realised what was happening, he had pulled out a gun and was pointing it at me. I blurred out of the way just as he fired, and it clicked. He looked at me, and told me he knew who I was, why I was there. Then he turned the gun on Miranda, and told me he'd kill her if I made any move to tell the others about what was happening. I just stood there, I didn't move. I asked him what he wanted, played along with him even though I knew I could have killed him before he knew what was happening. I had a gun, he didn't know that, hadn't factored that into the scenario. But I didn't, because Manticore hadn't given the order to kill, and I still thought I could get us out of there without killing him. It was a waste of time, and it didn't do any good. I should've killed him when I had the chance. I almost did it, I got my gun out and was going to shoot him, but that little voice, that stupid fucking voice came back, just for a second, and said _do you really wanna go back to Psy-Ops?_ And that second was all it took. He saw my gun and he pulled the trigger on his, he shot Miranda in the chest. His aim wasn't good, and he didn't get the heart, but my aim was better and I did. I raced over, grabbed her and blurred out of there. I met the others in the hall, they'd all come running when they heard the first shot. We all headed out, splitting up, and I was heading through the grounds when I ran into some of his actual guards, and I put Miranda down, and I fought them, but another one came up behind us and got to her, while the others distracted me. I turned around, and there was this guy beating her up. She was lying on the ground in a pool of her own fucking blood, and this guy was beating her up!' He stopped, looked away, as if ashamed of what he was going to say next. But he took a deep breath, and continued anyway. He knew he needed to get this out.

'I killed him, I snapped his neck like it was a twig. That's when the rest of the unit turned up. They told me that the alarms had been set off, and more guards were coming, with dogs. I looked down at Miranda. There was a huge pool of her blood, and she was still bleeding. If we took her with us, she'd leave a trail, as well as slow us down. I wanted to stay with her, but she just shook her head at me. I left her there, I ran for my life, and left her there for the dogs to sniff out. I meant to go back for her, but tried to, but Biggs stopped me. I beat the shit out of him that day, and he just took it. I knew that leaving her there had been the best thing to do for the unit, it was the only way to get everyone _else_ out of there alive. But I didn't get everyone out. I was the CO, they were all my responsibility, I was meant to keep them safe. If I hadn't let her go by herself, if I hadn't let him see me, if I'd fired first…' He trailed of, then pushed himself up of the bed, pulled on his pants, and stood up. He walked over to their window, and Max lay on the bed watching him. 'I can't have that kind of responsibility again, I can't be responsible for someone's life like that. I just… I can't have that kind of power ever again.'

She rose slowly, pulling on his shirt, and she came up behind me. She put her hand on his shoulder, and gently pulled on it so he turned to look at her. She felt her heart tug when she saw the despair in his eyes, and the guilt. She knew that guilt all too well, knew what it was like to feel responsible for the death of a family member. They looked at each other, silent for a few seconds, and Alec pulled her close in a tight embrace.

'I know Ben forgives you Maxie, he knows that you loved him. You did what you did because you loved him, because he asked you to.' He whispered the words into her ear as he held her, and they both took comfort in the other.

'Miranda forgives you too, you weren't just saving your own neck, Alec, you were doing what was best for your unit, what Miranda would have wanted you to do. We both did what we did out of love, and I think it's time we both let go, remember them in better times. I've lived with the guilt for over a year, and I know what it does to you. But we'll keep fighting, ok? For them.' He nodded, and they held each other like that, neither of them were quite sure how long they stood there. Then he pulled her away slightly, and look at her face, as if taking it in for the first and last time. Then he pulled her towards him, and he kissed her, slow and sweet. She leant into the kiss, and they slowly made their way back to their bed, and they spent the night exploring each other.

That night they both knew that they did more then just have sex, or even make love. They mated. All the pent up passions came pouring out, and it seemed like their energy had no boundaries until the early hours of the next morning. Just as the sun rose, they fell asleep in each others arms, content to just be with each other.

A/N: Ok, so what did you think? Yes/no? Please tell me! I didn't want to make it too sappy, cause it's not really Max and Alec. And did you like the explanation of why Alec didn't want to be CO?


	13. Chapter 13: Don't Worry Baby

Disclaimer: Don't own it

A/N: Here's the next chapter. I'm kinda sad, it's almost over. But I have a sequel in mind, so don't worry. Anyway, I just spent my entire maths lesson working on this chapter (could be why I just failed the exam, but oh well, I'm dropping this subject anyway. Two maths is just too much, I've decided) Anyway, here you go, happy reading.

Chapter 13: Don't Worry Baby

That night they both knew that they did more then just have sex, or even make love. They mated. All the pent up passions came pouring out, and it seemed like their energy had no boundaries until the early hours of the next morning. Just as the sun rose, they fell asleep in each others arms, content to just be with each other.

But their peace and quiet was short lived as less then an hour later, loud knocking woke them up. Max's eyes opened slowly and the first thing she saw was Alec, staring at her. She smiled at him as she yawned.

'What?'

'Do you know how scared I was that I was gonna wake up and find this was all a dream?' She shook her, and it was his turn to smile.

'I was more scared then I've ever been before. But here you are, and it turns out it wasn't a dream after all.' He bent his head down to hers and kissed her, hard. 'Nope, definitely not a dream. Thank god, if he's out there listening. Last night was amazing, all of it, just don't get any ideas about an encore, at least not any time soon.' He said, and he gave her a kiss on the forehead as she laughed.

'Was it that bad Alec? I mean, I can't say I've ever really stuck around for the morning review, but I usually got the impression that I was pretty good.' She said, trying to pout and failing miserably due to her incessant laughter. Alec looked down at her, confused for about a millisecond before he too started laughing.

'Oh no, that part will definitely have many encores, in fact, if you remember, there have already been, what, 5?' He said, his eyes laughing as he brought his head down level to hers. She reached out and smacked his head. 'Oh come one, Maxie, what was that for?'

'6' She said simply with an angry look on her face, then she ducked her head so he wouldn't see her grinning at his confused look.

'6…? Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't think that counted, but of course it counted for you. And stop laughing at me, makes me very insecure' But instead of stopping, she only started to laugh more. When she looked up, he was glaring at her, and she stopped laughing long enough to say something.

'I'm sorry, but you? Insecure? That is something I thought I would never see happening.' She said before she started laughing again, unable to control herself.

'Well maybe you just bring it out in me, Maxie' He whispered, his tone full of sincerity, and when she looked into his eyes, she sobered up immediately, and she lent in to kiss him.

'Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere.' She said into his lips, and he murmured his agreement. The kiss was brief, but passionate before Alec pulled away and looked down at her. He smiled, before he turned around and reached for his pants.

'Hey, I tell you I'm not going anywhere, now you're getting dressed? Where are you going?' She asked and he turned around to see her pouting at him. He laughed now, and he reached out a hand to trace her pout.

'As much as I would to stay in bed, and I would love to do that a _lot_, it doesn't look like whoever that is knocking on the door is going anywhere any time soon, and they've already been out there for a while.' She simply pouted even more.

'Oh, I was wishing that I _had_ dreamt the knocking.' She stretched quickly before she too reached for clothing. 'Might as well get up now anyway. We are supposed to be running TC you know.' He grinned at her before leaving the room. When he answered the door, Mole almost knocked on him before realising the door was open.

'There you are. You know, I know you sleep, but aren't you supposed to wake up at the slightest noise? And doesn't Max have shark DNA? Cause I've been out here for about 10 minutes.' Mole was saying as Max walked out of the bedroom.

'Yes, I do, and he is. We just had… a long night and we were both tired. Anyway, what's the hurry?' She asked.

'Council meeting? 08:00 hours? Ringing any bells? Remember, _everyone must be on time_.' Mole said, mimicking Max's voice. 'And here's our CO and SIC late by half an hour for, what, only the third meeting? What were you doing that made you so tired, anyway? Not fighting again, were we?' he smirked. Alec and Max looked at each shiftily.

'Not exactly' was all Max said.

'What exactly? Cause everyone's gonna want an explanation, and I'm gonna have to give them one.' Mole looked expectantly at Alec.

'Look, just tell everyone we'll be there in 5, ok? And we'll explain.' Mole glared at him, then nodded reluctantly and turned to walk back to HQ. Alec closed the door behind him and looked at Max. 'Uh, what are we gonna tell everyone?' he asked her.

'Well, Cindy and Syl probably already told half of TC what happened last night, so…'

'Yeah, and add to that the fact that apparently _all_ of TC, except us of course, already knew that we were in love with each other, and everyone will probably be able to put two and two together, and guess quite accurately what we were doing.' he added.

'Fine, we don't tell them anything, let them draw their own conclusions. If anyone does ask, we'll just tell them we had things to discuss, and they can come to their own conclusions as to what those things were.' At this last bit, Max looked at Alec, and they both burst out laughing. _I love his laugh, his real laugh. I don't hear it enough. I need to figure out ways to make him laugh, really laugh._

'Come on, let's get dressed. Can't keep them waiting.'

An hour later, the meeting was over and the room had mostly cleared, when Dalton approached Alec, who was sitting at the end of the table alone, reading over the details of the heist they had planned for the next night.

'Alec?' he asked hesitantly, not wanting to disturb TC's SIC when he was busy working.

'What? Oh, hey Dalton. What's up?' Alec asked, noting how nervous the kid looked. _Huh, either he did something, or he's going to ask me something that we're both gonna be _really_ uncomfortable with. Please let him have done something wrong._

'Can I ask you something?' _Or we can go for door number two._

'Sure, ask away.' Alec looked at him expectantly, but Dalton looked down at the floor. _Maybe he did do something wrong, please let him have done something wrong!_

'You know how you and Max are… well, you know.' Dalton said.

'Me and Max are what?' he repeated cautiously, wondering where this was leading.

'Well, you're together and stuff' Dalton mumbled, still looking at the floor.

'Mmm' Alec said noncommittally.

'Well, how did you get together? I mean, did you ask her out?' Dalton asked, briefly looking over Alec's shoulder before he looked back down at the floor, as if he had found a very interesting piece of dirt to look at.

'No… what's this all about Dalton?' _what's with the questions? I mean, they're so random… wait, oh my god! Ha! Of course, Bree! How could I forget?_ 'Do you like someone?' Alec asked slyly, and Dalton's eyes briefly darted across the room towards Bree and Max. Alec raised his eyebrows in mock shock. 'You like Bree? I admire your taste kid, I do. You'll have your hands full with her. I'll give you one piece of advice; _don't beat around the bush and waste time._ It's completely unnecessary, will make your life miserable and most likely make you the laughing stock of TC for the week. I can tell you, she likes you.'

'Thanks Dix, that's great.' Max said before turning around and walking straight into Bree. 'Oh, hey Bree. What's up?'

'Can I talk to you for a minute?' She asked her.

'Sure, come on.' Max walked over to some chairs in a corner of the room, and they sat down.

'So, you and Alec are together, huh?' Bree asked slyly, and Max looked at her, deciding there was no point in hiding the truth from Bree, she'd probably weasel it out of Alec anyway. _She's like family now, anyway, and she's Alec's family. I love seeing them together, I love that side of him. He'd be a perfect father… wow! Slow down Max, just focus on Bree._

'Yeah, we are. Why? Oh, I'm sorry, did you want him?' Max joked, and they both laughed as Bree pulled a face.

'Ew! No, he's like my brother! That'd be like you and… you and Krit!' this set them both off again, and once they'd calmed down, Bree continued 'Besides, I uh, I kind of like someone else.' Bree said softly as she looked up at the ceiling. _She's in love with Dalton, she's in love with Dalton!_ Max sung to herself in her head. She, like Alec, had picked up on the sparks between the two young X6s, and they had even discussed it at some point the night before, when they'd been simply lying in bed talking. And they had started plotting, she remembered, but now, as she noticed Dalton talking to Alec, and sneaking looks in their direction, it seemed the young X6s were going to make it a whole lot easier for them.

'Really? Who…hang on, let me guess. I know, is it… Dalton?' Bree looked at her.

'How did you know? Oh my god…' Bree trailed off. _Am I as obvious as Max and Alec? Oh god, does Dalton know?_ Max watched the look of horror cross Bree's face, and she started laughing, and decided to put Bree out of her misery.

'I saw you two last night and the fact that you keep looking over at him and Alec, and he keeps looking over at us, is a dead give away, especially since I know that you ain't looking at Alec, and Dalton sure as hell ain't looking at me.' Max couldn't help herself, she had to laugh at Bree's ashamed look. 'Don't worry, he likes you too. Guess it's easier to spot these things in other people, huh?' Bree nodded, and both women started laughing again.

That was how Alec and Dalton found them, sitting together, laughing.

'Hey Maxie, what's so funny?' Alec asked stepping up behind her and putting a hand on her shoulder. Both Bree and Dalton noticed how she unconsciously leaned into it. And both of them felt a slight pang of envy at their relationship.

'Never you mind, Alec. What are you two doing over here? Never did respect the art of girl time, did you?' She looked up at him, and he grinned at her, but shook his head.

'Dalton needs to ask Bree something, and I need to see you in your office.' Max nodded and stood up.

'It was nice to talk to you Bree.' She said just as Alec said 'Good luck Dalton'. They both looked at the other in surprise before walking towards Max's office. But before they got there, Luke called out from the other side of HQ.

'Hey, you guys, check this out! Dix and I found this ancient CD player and a CD. Some group called the Beach Boys or something? I don't know, but man, you gotta hear this.' They stopped and turned to see Dix standing next to a small object. He pressed a button, and after a few seconds music started drifting out. It was pretty soft, but everyone in the room could hear it perfectly.

_Well it's been building up inside me _

_For, oh, I don't know how long_

_I don't know why but I keep thinking _

_Something's bound to go wrong_

_But she looks in my eyes_

_And makes me realise… And she says…_

_Don't worry baby, don't worry baby_

_Everything will turn out all right_

_Don't worry baby, don't worry baby_

Max turned to look at Alec, and she smiled at him, and he pulled her closer to him, and he held her as they listened to the music for a minute. Then he turned and led her into her office. Alec closed the door behind them.

'So what's up Alec?' Max asked, turning to face him, only to find herself caught in his arms.

_She told me baby when you race today, _

_Just take along my love with you_

_And if you knew how much I loved you_

_Baby nothing could go wrong with you_

_Oh what she does to me, _

_When she makes love to me… and she says…_

_Don't worry baby, don't worry baby_

_Everything will turn out all right_

_Don't worry baby, don't worry baby_

'Nothing, I just really wanted to do this.' He told her as he leaned down to kiss her. And in that moment, she knew that they would OK. They all would be.

_Don't worry baby, don't worry baby_

_Everything will turn out all right_

_Don't worry baby, don't worry baby_

A/N: Ok, hope you liked it! The last chapter/epilogue, will be up tomorrow probably, if not later today. Who knows, and the day is young after all. I have three more periods today, so I need to do something to keep me occupied, don't I? As always, review please! I love reading what you have to say.


	14. Chapter 14: epilogue

Disclaimer: Not mine

A/N: ok, here it is at last, the final chapter of Freedom. YAY!!!!!!! So, without further ado… enjoy. Just letting you know, I actually wrote this a few days ago, but I only just got the chance to post it. SORRY!

Chapter 14: Epilogue

_6 months later._

'Alright, that's all for today guys. Meeting adjourned.' At Alec's words a collective sigh rang through HQ. Everyone began to pack up, some discussing their plans for the night. Everyone was glad the meeting was over, it had been a long one, and they were all tired.

Since more and more transgenics had kept turning up in the months following their decision to stand as a nation, they had had to expand the council, so there were now 18 members, excluding Max, Alec and Mole. _Max._ He looked to the other end of the table where she sat, watching him, that secretive smile on her face. She looked so at peace, calmly sitting there, watching everything that was going on around her, her arms protectively lying over her belly. He still couldn't believe it. It scared the hell out of him and made his heart leap at the same time to think that he and Max had made life together. He remembered when she had told him that she thought he would make a perfect father, and then she had told him that she was pregnant. _And in three months we'll get to test out her theory. 3 months… it seems like nothing. Hah! If someone had told me last year that I would be helping to lead Freak Nation, and that I would be about to become a father, I would've shipped them off to the loony bin. Now look at me._ He almost laughed at the thought.

He turned his head and his gaze fell on Bree and Dalton in the corner, laughing with each other. They were practically inseparable now, had been since that day he'd told Dalton not to waste time, and Dalton had asked Bree out. He smiled. _They're perfect together._ They reminded him of him and Max, and it made me happy to see her happy.

He turned his head in the other direction as he heard Biggs and Cece's voices coming up the stairs to HQ. They were _discussing_, heatedly, the state of their apartment. It seemed it was Biggs' turn to clean, and he had conveniently been out of the apartment all day. Alec laughed; this was totally typical of the couple. Biggs was constantly complaining that Cece nagged him and Cece was always complaining because Biggs was always avoiding, which was true. But the love was there, and always over ruled the other stuff, eventually. As with most transgenic couples, it occasionally took a physical altercation to solve their issues, but they always got over it very quickly. As he watched, they entered the room, and when Biggs turned his head and saw Alec, he headed towards him, a grin on his face, leaving a disgruntled Cece behind.

'Hey, Alec! Guess what I found this morning while rummaging through some stuff?' He said as he came closer. _Uh oh, he's too happy about this. What kind of incriminating stuff does he have now?_

'What?' he asked cautiously, which only served to make Biggs' smile broaden even more as he produced a small slip, of what looked like paper, from his back pocket. On second look, it was a folded photo. As Biggs unfolded it, and Alec saw what it was, he was assaulted by a flood of memories.

_They were all crowded in a small group in the tiny apartment they were all sharing for the next few weeks, pressed in as close together as they could fit, watching Miranda as she fiddled with the old camera._

'_Come on Miranda! How hard can it be?' Biggs complained, as he stood, fidgeting, next to Alec and Cece. They all laughed when she looked up at him and attempted to glare._

'_Shut up, Biggs! It's hard, ok?' She had replied, trying to sound angry, but failing. It simply wasn't in her nature to get angry. He had grinned at her, and she hadn't been able to contain her giggle. 'Ok, there. I think it's ready. So, if I just press this button, the photo will take itself in 30 seconds. There.' She said, pressing a button, before coming over to join the group. She took the empty spot next to Alec, so the two of them were in the middle of the group, and she grinned at him, and he grinned back, before they both looked forward to the camera. 'Say cheese!'_

'Hey Max, I think I we need your opinion on this one.' Biggs called across the room, and she smiled.

'Of course you do. Now what is it that you need my opinion on?' She inquired, looking between Biggs' laughing face and Alec's glowering one. 'Well, I, personally, would like your opinion on this hairstyle of Alec's from way back when.' Biggs told her, plucking the photo from Alec's grasp and blurring to the other end of the room, giving the photo to Max before Alec could stop him. Max looked down at it, and couldn't stop the laughter from escaping when she saw Biggs' hair. It was long, almost shoulder length, and it had green and blue streaks through it. But her laughter grew even more when she saw Alec's hairstyle. It was styled in a mow-hawk, and was dyed blue. She looked up, into Alec's eyes, and despite the look on his face, couldn't stop her laughter. He took the photo from Max and was about to tear it up, when he decided against it. Instead, he gave it back to Cece, telling her that they needed to keep it. Then he walked over to where Mole and Krit were standing, talking about their weapon supplies. He listened to their conversation, while his eyes resumed their survey of the room, and the smile returned to his lips.

Max sat at the end of the table, watching Alec survey the room. She still couldn't believe sometimes, how far they'd come. How far TC had come. She looked over and saw Syl and Dix discussing their computer equipment. She thought of her sister's relationship with Ash, who now worked under Jule in the Med building. They had clicked instantly on that first day, and he had totally understood her and had been a great comfort to her while Krit had been under supervision, and they had continued to grow closer every day.

And Krit, whole had been up and about a week after he was shot, was also knee deep in a strong relationship. His week in Med seemed short in the long run, but it had been enough for him and Jule. She still fussed over him, and while he walked around complaining, acting like it annoyed him, Max knew that he loved it. She saw him now, discussing weapon inventory with Mole. _Boys and their toys,_ she thought, shaking her head even as she smiled.

She still had to stop herself from pinching herself every morning, because she couldn't believe it was all real, and not a dream. She remembered what Alec had said that first morning. _Do you know how scared I was that I was gonna wake up and find this was all a dream?_ He had said to her, and she understood the feeling. It still amazed her to think that they had made it, all of them. _Well, not all of them._ She still thought of Tinga, Zack and Ben... _how can I help but think of Ben, seeing Alec every day?_ But she had long since learned not to remember them in grief, but rather in love and acceptance, just as she had said she would. And she knew, even though he didn't say anything, that Alec was doing the same with Miranda. And if she ever felt herself thinking of them in grief, she would think of those she still had, and how she and Alec had made a safe world for them all, in TC.

And they had even managed to make it safe for them outside the walls of TC too, and they could leave freely without to use the sewers, although no one rarely felt the need to leave their city, and so the stayed where they felt safe and at home. _That's what we've done here, really. We made more then a safe place; we made a home for anyone who wants one. We finally made a home for ourselves._

'Maxie, come with me.' Alec whispered in her ear, as he held his hand out for hers. She took it, stood up and followed him out of HQ.

'Where are we going?' she asked as they reached the bike shed.

'It's a surprise, Maxie.' He told her as he got on her Ninja, after seeing that she was comfortable on the back. She wrapped her arms around him, holding on, and he took off. They rode out into Seattle, and they both loved the fact that there were no angry mobs to greet them, and only one or two people even looked up at them. 'Close your eyes, Maxie' he told her, and she did, a sign of her complete trust in him. She even resisted the urge to peek as they rode. She felt the bike stop, and Alec get off.

'No peeking yet.' He told her as he lifted her up. She felt his carry her up what seemed to be an endless staircase, until they finally reached what had to have been the top. He put her down gently, and he sat beside her. She could feel the breeze on her face, and she felt him put an arm around her. 'Open your eyes Maxie.'

She did, and saw with surprise that they sat on the top of the Space Needle. She hadn't been here in over 6 months. She hadn't needed to. But she realised that she had missed it. She turned to Alec.

'I love you, Alec.' She told him.

'I love you too, Maxie.' He told her, and he wrapped his other arm around her to pull her close, and he held her like that for an hour, watching the city buzz. They both reflected on the last year and a half, and thought about how much had changed. Max thought back to that day in HQ, when Luke had played that CD. That song had captured everything that she had been feeling at that time, and while she knew that they weren't completely out of the woods yet, and White was still out there, and their big battle was coming soon, somehow, none of that mattered. A lot of people in TC, and out of it, might say that they were fighting an ongoing fight for their freedom, to her; she had won that battle 6 months ago.

_I spent so long looking for freedom, I can't believe I finally got it, and I can't believe how much my idea of freedom has changed. I used to think that freedom would mean just me, but now it means me and Alec. Everything means me and Alec. To think I almost named him Dick._

_I can't believe I almost killed her, I can't believe she can love me after everything I did. How can anyone be that perfect? And how can I possibly deserve someone so perfect? What am I doing? Why the hell am I questioning this?_

Finally Max stood up and held out her hand to Alec. He took it and stood up, and looked down at her. 'Let's go home Alec.'

A/N: Ok, it's done! Sorry, I know I promised the update much earlier then this, but you know how it is. Sorry if it doesn't live up to expectations. But I have another story in the works, kinda, and a sequel to this so keep an eye out for them! Thanks for reading.


End file.
